Touching Time (revised)
by Trafalgar Neo
Summary: It's black with glowing red veins coursing through its round body. It's trapped the pirates. Unable to defeat or get free, they black out. Waking up they find they're separated and on islands called Time Domes. But as they start with their assigned task they're given by their real captor, they find they're not on islands at all. They're not even in the New World. TimeTravel-ish
1. Vacation P1

**Takes place some time after Dressrosa. Not sure when exactly so it might not fit in with the time like of One Piece. It'll be following with my Frozen Soul rewrite. It'll be a little farther along, but there shouldn't be any spoilers here.  
**

* * *

Vacation

Part One

Neo hummed to herself as she lightly rocked her head to the soft melody that Brook was playing them on his violin. Sitting on the mast bench with Chopper leaning against her side, she ran her eyes over the combination of the two crews she was with. Earlier, Luffy was causing problems over on the Polar Tang, so to save Law's sanity and Luffy's life, she managed to get the Straw Hat captain to come back to his ship. A few of the Heart Pirates followed Neo and were currently scattered around the ship deck themselves. Penguin and Shachi, had pulled Zoro, Franky, and Nami into a poker game and where gathered around a small table that was sat out on the deck earlier that day by Sanji. Luffy was currently sitting up on the figurehead of the ship just watching the horizon, Robin was sitting in a white fold up chair near Neo with a book in her hands, Usopp was sitting on the lawn working on some unidentifiable project, and Sanji had disappeared inside the kitchen to make a snack for everyone.

The sun was bright and hot. A light breeze was blowing through just enough to keep the pirates cool and push their ships along the salty waters. A few seagulls were calling to each other overhead, but soon swooped off to a nearby rock formation to rest for a while leaving the only noise to be Brook's music and the splashing water against the two ships. Neo opened her eyes two seconds before the peaceful setting was disturbed by a whale coming up too close to the Sunny. It brushed against the side of the ship, causing the vessel to rock unsteadily.

"Whaaaaa!" Luffy cried when the ship suddenly rocked without warning. He wrapped his arm around the figurehead to keep himself from falling into the watery blue below him while pressing his hand to his hat with his free hand. "What the heck is that?!"

The poker players all tipped over with startling cries as their cards and money flew from their hands and the table. Robin used her powers to keep herself and her chair upright while Brook wasn't as lucky and stumbled to the deck with a painful groan. Usopp cried and fell onto his left side, accidently whacking himself with his hammer when he collided with the deck. He cried, "Ouch! That hurt! What the heck happened?!"

"What's going on?! What's happening?! Are we under attack?!" Chopper cried. He flailed his arms before grabbing onto Neo's arm.

"It's fine, everyone. We're not under attack," Neo replied. She patted Chopper's hooves before picking him up in her arms and standing up from the bench. "It's just a whale that got a little too close to the ship. Sorry. I didn't catch it quick enough to warn you all."

"Well, that's a relief. For a moment, I thought we were-" Franky said before he got cut off by the whale bumping into the ship again. The whale cried out while it bobbed up and down in the water.

"There goes our card game," Penguin grumbled. He looked down at the cards now scattered on the deck. There would be no way to put the correct cards back in the right hands. Their game was over.

"You should be grateful, Pen," Shachi said, adjusting his skewed sunglasses. "You were loosing anyway."

"I was not!" Penguin snapped. He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to Neo to check on her.

"You were too!" Shachi shot back.

"You both were losing! So shut up!" Nami growled. She stumbled on her feet when the whale brushed up against the ship once more. She steadied herself on the wall of the ship before she could fall again and looked over at Neo and Chopper. "Hey! Will you two do something about this?!"

"What's going on?!" Sanji asked, coming out from the kitchen. "Luffy! If you're rocking the ship by goofing around and hurt Neo, I'm going to flambé you!"

"Hey! It's not me!" Luffy protested. He flung himself to the deck of the ship and immediately wrapped his arms around Neo's hips. "I love Neo! She's my friend! I'd never do anything to hurt her!"

"It's nothing much. A whale is just causing us a little problems," Franky replied. "But Neo and Chopper's going to take care of it."

"Are you all right? Did you get thrashed or anything?" Penguin asked. He ran his hidden eyes over Neo's body while reaching out and brushing the back of his fingers over her baby bump when Luffy retracted his arms. His lips twitched into a smile when his eyes roamed over the dark blue, short sleeve, button up shirt of Law's she was wearing. Just as they all figured, she was wearing Law's clothes more often since finding out she was pregnant.

"We're just fine, Penguin," Neo said with a smile. She took his hand in hers for a moment to calm his nerves over her and the baby getting hurt before summoning her wind crystals. Once she felt Penguin relax, she lifted herself and Chopper into the air then flew over the railing of the ship and down to the whale. Catching the whale's attention, she said, "Excuse me. Could you please stop hitting the ship? You're causing issue for our friends on the deck."

"What?!" Chopper shrieked when the whale answered back. "What do you mean we're being followed?!"

"How long have they been following us?" Neo asked. "All day, huh?"

"Do you think they're planning on attacking us?" Chopper asked.

"They might be," Neo said, looking down at the reindeer in her arms when he looked up at her.

"What was that?" Usopp asked from above. The sniper peered over the railing and looked at the greyish blue whale before looking back behind the ships. "We're being followed by a pirate ship?"

"I don't see anyone," Franky's voice called out. He scanned the horizon multiple times with his binoculars. "Is the whale sure?"

Neo hummed and looked towards the stern of the ships. She kneaded her eyebrows, connecting herself to the ocean, she felt out for the ship. She nodded when she found it. Looking back down at the whale, she said, "I feel it now. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We'll take it from here."

The whale clicked and chirped back at Neo before disappearing under the ocean waves. She then flew herself and Chopper back up to the deck of the Sunny. _'Law, we're being followed by a pirate ship.'_

 _'I'll be right there.'_

Landing she looked to Luffy when Usopp asked, "So what are we going to do?"

"If they've been following us all day, then it's highly likely they are going to attack us," Zoro said just as Law warped onto the deck of the Sunny.

"What do you say, Tra?" Luffy asked. "Should we attack while on the water or wait until we dock at an island?"

"How long have they been following us?" Law asked Neo.

"Pretty much all day," Neo replied. "They've been staying back so we couldn't see them. So I'm assuming they might have a Devil Fruit user on board that's been helping them keep track of where we are somehow."

"Most logical explanation if we haven't spotted them until now," Law said with a nod.

"So what's the plan, Captain?" Shachi asked.

"Should we turn around and attack before they attack us?" Penguin asked.

"Let's dock at an island," Law said. He carefully looked around, weight his options and taking Neo's pregnancy into consideration. Whatever they did, he wanted it to be the safest route for her. "We'll turn our knowledge of them following us there against them."

"So what's the plan?" Zoro asked. He pushed his thumb against one of his swords, pulling it out of its sheath a couple inches. It clanked back into its sheath when he moved his thumb.

"We'll choose an island that will give them plenty of cover so they'll get over confident. And make it look like we're docking for the night," Law replied. He looked over the pirates before him then let his eyes drop down to Neo. "You keep an eye on them through nature. When they're about to attack, let us know."

"All right." Neo nodded.

"How does that sound to you, Straw Hat?" Law asked, turning his eyes to the other captain in the group.

"Sounds fine to me," Luffy replied with a huge grin. "This is going to be fun."

"I'll warp Bepo over here," Law said while forming his Room. He looked at Nami. "Pick an island. Once that's done, Neo can fly him back over to the sub."

"Right." Nami nodded.

"If you get tired at all, come back to the sub and take a nap," Law ordered, eying her body in his shirt and loving how she looked in his clothes. His eyes locked onto the buttons as his mind ventured into undoing them one by one while nibbling on the flesh of her neck.

"Yes, _Captain_ ," Neo said, causing Chopper to snicker. _'That is, unless you keep letting yourself get aroused by the sight of me in your clothes and order me back to the sub to enact the fantasy going through your head right now.'_

 _'I might just do that. You're extremely sexy in my clothes and even sexier out of them. You know where I'll be if you need me.'_ Law smirked at her before leaning over and pecking her lips. He then warped himself back to the sub.

A few seconds later, Bepo appeared in the spot he was standing. He looked around before saying, "Captain told me we were picking an island to stop at."

"Yeah. Follow me," Nami said, beckoning the bear to follow her with a curl of her finger.

"How are you feeling, Neo?" Bepo asked, his black nose twitching while he sniffed Neo's scent for changes.

Neo giggled at his concern over her. She reached up to scratch behind his ear affectionately. He had to lean down so she could reach his ear and not use her magic to fly. His furry white cheeks flushed with pink when she bestowed him with her loving touch. "I'm just fine, Bepo. You hurry up now. Law will want to know how long it'll be before we make landfall."

"Aye aye, Captain Neo!" Bepo chirped affectionately before following after the Straw Hat navigator.

"Well, I better go get your snacks," Sanji said with a puff on his cigarette. He turned back to the kitchen and disappeared inside.

"You getting nervous over the attack, huh?" Penguin asked while he escorted Neo back over to the mast bench.

"Don't I always?" Neo asked with a little giggle.

"Of course you're worried," Chopper said. "It's too be expected with how much your crew means to you and with being pregnant."

"I'm worried about you too," Neo said. She tapped Chopper on his blue nose. She sat down and placed him on her lap. "You and all of the Straw Hats mean a lot to me as well. You know that."

"Yeah, I know that. You're just so sweet. We worry about you too," Chopper replied. He looked down at Neo's stomach. Despite not being able to see her baby bump with how large Law's shirt was on her, he still envisioned it there. "I wonder what kind of kid your child will be. Will he be more like you or Law?"

"Well, in the majority of cases, the first born child often takes after the father," Shachi said as he walked over to them. "So, I bet the kid will be a lot like the captain."

"He'll probably have black hair, steel colored eyes," Penguin said. "And he'll probably even have the captain's personalities."

"He's going to be sadistic and enjoy torturing people," Shachi and Penguin said with a dark cloud hovering over them. "We can barely handle the captain's wild behavior. Now we're going to have two of them."

"You two make it sound like they're having a boy," Franky said. "It could be a girl, you know?"

"Of course we know that!" Shachi and Penguin snapped.

"I've called an unknown gender of a baby a boy before," Usopp said. He picked up his scattered tools and placed them back on the small crate he was working on. "I don't know why, but it just seems more natural that way. Like how some words seem to come out more naturally in a certain order?"

"Even if the baby turns out to be a boy," Robin said from her chair, "it doesn't mean that he'll have Law's personality traits. I'm sure the baby will have plenty of Neo's personality and physical traits."

"I sure hope so," Penguin said. He plopped down on the mast bench beside Neo. Placing his hands behind his head, he looked up at the sky. "The captain's sadistic personality with control over nature, any element of nature, is a very scary thought to have."

"What element do you think the kid will have?" Brook asked. "Is there anyway of telling that?"

"No, an Elemental's crystals are just like any other traits of a baby," Neo replied. She slipped her right hand between her body and Chopper's. Rubbing her baby bump tenderly, her heart fluttered in anticipation on all these questions that were being asked. "We won't know that until the baby is born. It's kind of exciting. Almost like waiting to unwrap a present."

"Yeah, except this present will be extremely painful to get," Zoro said.

Neo whimpered. Her bangs fell over her face as everyone, including Sanji who had just walked out of the kitchen and Robin who's usually quiet, punched or kicked Zoro on the head and screamed, "You stupid idiot! Don't say things like that to her!"

"Ouch! What the heck was that for?!" Zoro snapped. He rubbed his throbbing head that was now littered with several bumps. "All I did was speak the truth!"

"Be a little more sensitive, you jerk!" Chopper growled. "Neo's having enough of a hard time dealing with the idea of how painful this is going to be! She doesn't need to be reminded of it!"

"Yeah! You jerk!" Luffy snapped.

"What's the matter with you?!" Shachi demanded.

"Yeah! If you don't have anything nice and good to say, then keep your mouth shut!" Penguin added.

"Stop yelling at me!" Zoro roared. "You all baby her far too much! She's an adult not a child!"

"We do not! Take that back!" Penguin said as he, Shachi, and Luffy pounced on Zoro. The small group engaged in a fight while shouting at each other.

"Good grief," Sanji said with a huff. He was standing near Neo with a tray of vanilla parfaits balanced perfectly in his hand. "If they keep this up, they're going to stress you out. And then Law will put you on lock down. We won't be able to see you for who knows how long."

Neo laughed before she summoned her wind crystals to separate the fighting pirates. Despite being separated, they still tried to kick and punch each other. She said, "All right, you four, that's enough. I don't want Law to order me back to the sub because you feel like fighting. I know childbirth is painful. You all don't have to tiptoe around that fact."

"Sorry, Neo," Penguin said as she sat them down on the deck.

"Yeah, we're sorry," Shachi added. He then elbowed Zoro on the arm.

"What?" Zoro asked.

"Apologize," Shachi hissed in a low tone.

"For what? I just spoke the truth," Zoro replied.

"It's fine, Shachi," Neo replied as she took a parfait from Sanji.

"Here you go, my darling," Sanji cooed. "I made it with as little sugar as possible."

"Thanks, Sanji," Neo said just as Chopper moved off her lap and onto the bench to claim a parfait for himself. "You're the best."

"Anytime," Sanji said with a smile.

"You are a pretty good cook," Penguin said as he snatched himself a parfait from the tray. He then sat down beside Neo, earning an elbow from her.

"Hey!" Neo protested.

Penguin chuckled and kissed her temple. "No worries. You are by far my top favorite cook and always will be. I was just going to say that, while you're good at cooking, your skills have gotten even better since you've trained with Sanji."

"That's better. And you're right. I've noticed that my cooking skills have gotten better since I've started learning from Sanji," Neo said before taking a bite of her parfait. She looked up and smiled at the blonde cook. "Thanks a lot for teaching me."

"It's my pleasure, Princess," Sanji said with a wink. He chuckled when Neo wrinkled her nose at him for calling her by her royal title. "You're the best student I've ever had."

"I'm the only student you've ever had," Neo replied while she kicked her bare toes against his shin. "At least for this long."

"True. It's rare for me to share my skills and tricks with others," Sanji said as he handed Robin her parfait. "They have to be very special for me to do that. And you are."

"You're such a flirt," Neo said with a giggle.

"I'm surprised the captain lets you flirt with her," Shachi said holding his own parfait.

"He only allows it because Neo has become so close to the Straw Hats," Penguin said before taking a bite of his treated. "And she's really bonded with Sanji over cooking."

"Yup! We're all friends now!" Luffy cheered.

"You don't have to shout, Luffy," Usopp said.

…

"This spot looks good," Nami said, pointing to the island on the map she had rolled out on the table. "We can get there in about an hour."

"Yeah. It looks good to me. I'll go inform the captain of this." Bepo nodded. He turned to leave the room but stop when he another island on the map caught his eyes. "Wait isn't this that resort island?"

"Oh, yeah. That's Sunrise Resort. It's said that that particular resort has no problems with pirates as long as they behave," Nami said. She looked at the map then at the bear. "Why? Did you want to stop there for something?"

"Not really. It's just..."

"What is it, Bepo?" Nami asked when the bear didn't continue. "Just tell me what's on your mind. It must be something good if it deals with a resort."

"I was just thinking about how the captain and Neo never had a honeymoon," Bepo said. "It would be really nice if they could have one before the baby arrives. Their lives will get so hectic then. And as pirates, we don't really have all that much down time as it is."

"Why don't you suggest it to him then?" Nami asked. "We can afford to take some time off. That resort is very big. It has an amusementpark. You know how much Luffy's loves those. We'd be able to keep him busy for days."

"I can't. The captain would never go for something like that. This resort is very expensive. I heard that just renting one room will run you over a hundred thousand berries. The captain doesn't throw around money so easily," Bepo said.

"But he does when Neo's involved. He spent over a thousand berries on the ring he bought her," Nami pointed out. "So it was something like that. I know her ring isn't cheep."

"True but it's not my place to tell the captain what to do with his money," Bepo replied. "Even if we have known each other for so long, I'm still his subordinate."

"I suppose you would be stepping out of bounds a little bit there," Nami said. "And you really do respect him as your captain."

Bepo nod. "Penguin's the only one who can push those boundaries and not get reprimanded."

"So I've heard," Nami said, rubbing her chin in thought.

"Well, I better get these coordinates to the captain," Bepo said. "See you later, Nami."

"Yeah. Later." Nami watched the bear. She glanced back at her maps. Her eyes lingered on the resort island before she left the room herself. She pondered on what Bepo had said as she walked back towards her friends. Once back with her friends, she remained on the second level. Crossing her arms over the railing, she looked down at Neo.

"So did you find us an island?" Brook asked his friends when he realized the two navigators had returned.

"It wasn't hard. We're close to some very ideal island," Nami replied. She placed her chin in her left hand and looked around at the two crews. "Tra will be pleased. We'll be at the one we picked in about an hour."

"That quick, huh?" Franky asked. He looked back towards the stern of the ship. "I wonder who's been following us. And how did they manage to stay out of our sight? And what kind of Devil Fruit are they using that could help them pull that off?"

"We'll know soon enough," Shachi said.

"Are you ready to go back to the sub now?" Neo ask the bear standing near her.

"If you're ready to send me over." Bepo nodded. "I'll inform the captain of this right away."

Neo nodded then stood up from the bench. Taking another bite of her parfait, she walked Bepo over to the side of the ship before summoning a wind crystal. She flew the bear over to the sub, waved to Topaz and a couple other crewmates who were fishing, then walked back over to the mast bench. She was unaware of being watched by one of her friends.

…

Nami remained on the upper deck just watching Neo. After a few seconds a devious smile spread across her lips. "Hmm."

"You have a very wicked look on your face," Robin said as she joined the younger woman on the upper deck. "What's on your mind?"

"How would you like to have a little fun with Tra?" Nami asked.

"You want to have fun with the Surgeon of Death?" Robin said despite a pleasant smile being present on her lips. "That's not a very wise thing to do."

"True. In normal cases it wouldn't be. But in this case, it will be just fine," Nami said. "And it'll be fun."

"Oh? How so?" Robin inquired.

"It'll be for Neo," Nami said, her grin growing into a devious with each passing second.

"What did you have I mind?" Robin asked with a devious smile of her own.

"I'll tell you soon," Nami said, turning her eyes back down to Neo and then to Penguin. "But first we need to acquire a certain Heart Pirate." The navigator waved and called to that particular Heart Pirate. "Hey! Penguin! Would you mind coming with me for a second?! I could use your help with something!"

"Huh?" Penguin looked up to the women standing above them. "What is it?"

"Just come with us," Nami said before she and Robin headed off.

"Hey! I'll come with you two!" Shachi chirped with a smile and red cheeks.

"Sorry, Shachi. Penguin is the one we need," Nami said.

"Aw! Not fair!" Shachi huffed then took a grumpy bite of his parfait.

"What do they want?" Penguin asked. He took another bite of his parfait, not really wanting to follow them.

"You won't know that unless you go see them," Neo said. She giggled when he gave her a skeptical look. "It's not like they're going to hurt you. You're my brother. I'm sure whatever it is they want, it's nothing harmful."

"I suppose so," Penguin said with a sigh and a peck to Neo's cheek. Forcing himself to his feet, he headed for the stairs. "I'll be back soon."

"Right." Neo nodded. But as she watched him walk away, she started to regret encouraging him to go. She felt like she was becoming possessive of him. _Stupid pregnancy hormones. I don't mind him going off. They're not keeping him._

"He's so luck," Shachi whined. His shoulders drooping low. "I wish two pretty ladies would invite me to go somewhere with them."

"Would one pretty lady do? Even if we're not going anywhere?" Neo asked as she patted the empty space beside her.

"You'll more than do," Shachi said sitting down beside her.

"Good! Because I didn't want to have to snap at you with my out of control pregnancy hormones!" Neo said with a bright smile. "I was starting to feel a bit lonely and rejected with Penguin going off with Nami and Robin."

"Glad to be of service to you," Shachi said with a smile of his own.

"And I'm more than glad to be of service to you, Neo, my sweet!" Sanji cooed while spinning wildly.

"Why couldn't Trafalgar just chop off your head for flirting with her?" Zoro asked.

"What was that, you stupid moss head?!" Sanji snapped.

"You heard me!" Zoro said. "He should have chopped off your head long before now! How can you flirt with a married pregnant woman and not feel like scum, you stupid cook?!"

"Because she's my friend! It's all innocent! And Law knows that!" Sanji snapped. "Now take that back!"

"Make me!" Zoro growled just before he and Sanji started exchanging punches and kicks.

"Take that back, moss head!"

"Stupid cook! Go fry yourself!"

"Not again," Franky said with a sigh. He sat down on the deck, putting his hands behind his head, he leaned against the railing and watched his two friends fight.

"No soothing music will stop that fight," Brook noted. He pulled his bow string over his violin, purposefully hitting sour note.

"Neo, could you do something about them?" Usopp asked.

"Why?" Neo asked innocently. She leaned back against the mast and nibbled on the parfait that was on her spoon. Her eyes were sparkling as she watched Zoro and Sanji fight.

"Looks like she's enjoying their fight," Chopper noted. It was clear to all of them that she was going through another pregnancy mood swing. And this one was her Childish Swing, as the crews had come to affectionately call it. "It would be best to just let her ride it out. We don't want to upset her."

"Yeah. You're right," Everyone, but for Sanji and Zoro, said. They all then scattered about the ship to either watch the fight continue or doing whatever else they felt like.

…

"So what's up? What do you need me to do?" Penguin asked when his small group of three entered into the library. He looked around the small room, confused at why they would bring him here while mindlessly taking another bite of his snack. "Do I need to move books or something?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Nami said.

"Then what is it?" Penguin asked, his confusion rising. He turned to the two women and looked at him.

"We want you to help us convince Tra to take Neo to Sunrise Resort for their honeymoon," Nami said.

"What makes you think I can help with that? I've heard of that place. It's very expensive," Penguin said. "The captain is very strict with how he spends his money because of all of the medical equipment we have on the sub. It's expensive being a doctor. Especially one who has a ship like the captain does. We have to make sure all of the equipment is working correctly and gets replaced when it fails. And lets not forget all of the medical supplies he needs. We have to keep all of that in stock."

"We can understand that," Robin said, crossing her arms over her chest. "But Tra loves Neo."

"Surely he feels guilty about never giving her a honeymoon," Nami said. "This would be the perfect opportunity to do that. He might not get another chance, especially when the baby arrives."

"I don't know. Neo really doesn't care about that kind of stuff," Penguin said. "As long as she's with the captain, she'll never care about having a honeymoon."

"She just doesn't know any better. This will be good for them," Nami said. "It's nice for a man to do things like this for his lady, especially if that lady is Neo."

"They could use some private time. I know Tra is a bit annoyed with Luffy's antics all the time," Robin said.

"And what about him? Straw Hat won't just leave them alone while they're at this resort," Penguin said. He tapped his spoon against the rim of his parfait glass a couple times.

"No, he won't," Nami said, her grin growing brighter.

"How?" Penguin asked.

"Because this resort also has an amusement park. Luffy loves those," Nami said. "All we have to do is give him a couple hours to play with Neo then he'll be satisfied. And if not, we can easily distract him with all the fun things to do on the island. See? It's perfect."

Penguin frowned.

"She's right. This really is the perfect chance to do this. We have no idea what the future might hold," Robin said.

Penguin looked at the taller, older woman then back to the younger woman. He knew they were right. And the captain and Neo hadn't really had any time to just rest and be with each other since that whole mess in Dressrosa. This would be beneficial to them both. He sighed. _And Neo said this wouldn't be anything dangerous. I might be able to push the captain's buttons a little bit where she's concerned, but I still have my limits. But still…I can't really let this opportunity slip by._ He sighed. "Fine. What is it you want me to do?"

"That's better. Now, here's what I was thinking we could do," Nami said before laying out her plans to corner the Heart Pirate captain and get them to do what they wanted.

…

Neo scanned her eyes over the island that the Sunny and Polar Tang just docked at a few minutes ago. It wasn't the biggest island they've ever been too, but it wasn't the smallest either. Connecting herself to the island, she found it was about two miles long and a half a mile wide. There were a ton of smaller animals, such as birds, foxes, rabbits, and squirrels and only a few larger animals, like deer and hogs. Beaches and rock formations decorated the outer sides of the island while thick trees and bushes were gathered on the rest of the island. And a small group of four mountains were clustered together on the farthest north side of the island.

"Wow! This place is so cool! I can't wait to explore it!" Luffy announced.

"Shut up! We're not here to explore! We're being hunted by who knows who!" Usopp shouted with a whack to his captain's head.

"Well?" Law asked after warping back onto the Sunny and right by his love's side.

"I think this will work out just fine," Neo replied. "If they do what we think, they'll dock their own ship directly on the other side of the island from our position. That way they'll only have a half a mile to walk for their planned ambush. They'll use the thick brush to hide in, but I can ask the animals of the island to help me keep an eye out for them."

Law nodded in acceptance to her words. "Then lets get camp set up."

"All right!" Luffy jumped up on the railing of the Sunny. He threw his arms up in the air and shouted. "Let's have a barbecue!"

"Is food all you think about?" Penguin asked as the Straw Hats started to gather their things and make their way to the island.

"Sanji! Get the stuff ready! Brook, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and I are going fishing for some fish!" Luffy screamed. He jumped off the railing and bolted for his fishing pole.

"Apparently so," Shachi said. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched the Straw Hat captain disappear inside of the ship for a second before coming back with his fishing pole. "He didn't even hear you."

"Sheesh, Luffy. Let's at least get the camp set up before you take off fishing," Sanji said, but not quick enough. Luffy grabbed those he named off before jumping off the ship to find a prime fishing location. "Oh, never mind. It's better this way."

"How so? He gets to run off and have fun while the rest of us work," Shachi said.

"We look at it this way, we prefer to have Luffy happy than bored," Sanji replied. "Besides, there's not much to do. It looks like it'll be a nice night. So we're going to be sleeping outside without tents."

"Good points." Shachi nodded.

"Shall we then?" Neo asked, sliding her hand into Law's. Lacing their fingers together, she looked up at him just as he looked down at her. He nodded in response to her question then warped the two of them, plus Shachi and Penguin onto the beach. She scanned her eyes over the island again. When she found what she was looking for, she summoned her earth crystals. Placing them in the forest, she gathered up a pile of dry kindling and large logs for the crew to use while they were camping here.

"You sure make our job easier," Penguin said when Neo laid out the wood.

"Most like she spoils you all," Law said. He tapped his finger on the sheath of his sword and lifted an eyebrow at Neo.

"They're our babies," Neo replied. "We're supposed to spoil them."

"They're not our babies," Law said. "They're our _subordinates_."

Neo narrowed her eyebrows at the word _subordinates_. The air around her crackled in annoyance to the word and Law saying the word.

"Uh oh," Penguin said, noticing the hormonal change in Neo.

Shachi squeak and took a step back from their favorite girl.

Law swallowed upon realizing his mistake. Before he could fix it, Neo snapped at him. She said, "They are not just our _subordinates,_ Law! They _are_ our _babies_! How could you say that?! We love the crew! They're my _family_! You all have raised me! They're not _below_ us at all! Why would you say that?!"

"I'm sorry, Neo," Law said. He reached for her, but she pulled away.

"Don't touch me!" Neo pulled away from him and walked a couple feet away.

She stopped when she saw some of her crewmates, who had just descended from the Polar Tang, staring at her with shocked expressions. She then realized what had just happened. Her angry composure disappeared, causing her shoulders to slump. "Oh geez. I did it again, did I?"

The Heart Pirates nodded at her. She could easily see they were afraid to speak because of her outburst. She sighed and tears came to her eyes. Another mood swing. The Heart Pirates turned their eyes to their captain, some with glares for upsetting her in the first place. Despite that they were starting to learn when they should step up and comfort Neo and when to stand back and let Law do it. This time was one where Law needed to do it. So he nodded when they looked at him then walked closer to Neo, carefully. Knowing she knew he was there, and since she didn't pull away, he put his hand on her shoulder then pulled her to his chest. Leaning over, he pressed his lips into her hair. "I'm sorry, Neo. I didn't mean to upset you. I understand how much the crew means to you."

Neo shook her head. She wrapped her arms around his waist. Sniffling, she said, "I'm the one who's sorry! I snapped at you for no good reason! I'm such a horrible person! I'm sorry! I'm out of control!"

"It's all right, love. It's not your fault. It was mine," Law replied. He stroked his hand over her hair soothingly. "I shouldn't have said that about the crew. I know they're your family and you love them very much. And we've talked about how your hormones are going to be out of control for a while. This is normal for you right now."

"It's stupid," Neo said. She pulled away from him a bit and tilted her teary eyes up to him. "I love you all so much. You all are being so incredibly patient with my craziness. And this isn't even a normal human pregnancy. It's a crazy Elemental one."

"It's not crazy at all," Law said. He raked his fingers through her hair with a soft smile. "It's normal."

"Maybe for Elementals," Neo mumbled. "But you all aren't use to this. I'm not use to this."

"We're learning together," Law said. He pulled his fingers from her hair and placed his hand on her hip. "It's a new experience for us all. And it's only a temporary one. When our baby is here we'll look back on all of this with good humor and laugh."

"I hope so," Neo said.

"Is everything okay?" Robin then asked walking over to them after giving them enough time to defuse the situation.

"Yeah." Neo nodded. She ran her eyes over everybody near them. They all were relaxed now that she was relaxed. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize," one Heart Pirate said.

"Like the captain said, we know this is normal," another one said. "We still love you."

"You just sit and relax now. We'll handle setting everything up," Topaz said. "You look a bit tired."

"That might be a good idea. I do feel tired," Neo said. She looked around at the island again before her eyes landed on Penguin. The man had his hat covered eyes down to the ground and wore a very concentrated look on his face. "Penguin? Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Why?" Penguin looked at her.

"You just seemed distracted that's all," Neo said.

"It's nothing. I was just lost in thought," Penguin replied. "Let's get things set up."

Neo nodded. The two pirate groups then scattered out to enact their plan. A couple hours later, most of the pirates were gathered around the fire while the others had wondered into the two ships to make it appear they were going to sleep inside or preform other duties on the ships. When Law thought the timing was right, Neo used her winds to lift that group off the two ships and around to an area of the island that some Heart Pirates scoped out hours before. That group was laying low, waiting to jump in to the attack whenever their enemy finally fired on them. As a show to weaken their forces, Sanji and Zoro were the only two Straw Hats that accompanied the Heart Pirates. So now all they had to do was wait.

"Aw, this is so boring!" Luffy cried. He flopped back on his back and stared up at the darkening sky before him. The sky was clear of clouds, but full of stars. It looked like a sparkling blanket. "Why can't we just go attack them?"

"Because that's not the plan, Luffy!" Usopp said. "We've been over this seven times already! How can you still not be getting it?!"

"Are they at least getting close?" Luffy asked. He sat back up and looked at Neo who he was sitting beside.

Neo nodded. She was staring into the fire with an intense look on her face. Her mind locked onto the nature around her as the ship that was following them arrived at the island.

"What's wrong, Neo?" Law asked.

"They finally docked on the island. And I know who's attacking," Neo said. She lifted her eyes from the fire and looked at Law. "Well, I don't know _who_ but I think I know now how they were able to follow us without me knowing."

"And how was that?" Brook asked.

"One of them has the Wind Wind Devil Fruit," Neo said. "They must have used the wind to track our movements. And since the wind was already blowing today, I didn't notice it."

"The Wind Walkers are attacking us?!" Shachi gasped.

"But that's not possible!" Penguin said. "Their leader's heart was one of the one's the captain gave to the Navy to become a Warlord! He couldn't possible be out for revenge!"

"Their leader had his heart taken by Mr. Tra?! That's scary! I hope my heart doesn't get taken," Brook said, placing his hand over his chest. "But then, I don't have a heart because I'm already dead! Yo ho ho!"

"It might not be them then," Franky said. "I highly doubt that group would go after the Navy to get their captain's heart back then come after you all, especially after taking down a Warlord."

"Then that means the former owner of that Devil Fruit is dead," Usopp said.

"Probably," Neo muttered. "Either the Navy killed the owners of all those hearts or the man died another way."

"There's no way to know for sure. So don't worry about it," Law said.

Neo nodded.

"Are there any other Devil Fruit users among them?" Nami asked.

"If there are, they're not nature types," Neo said. She looked at Topaz for extra conformation.

"I'm not sensing any other Devil Fruits among them either," Topaz replied. She looked up from the boiler suit she was patching up for one of her crewmates and looked around at the pirates. "But, as Neo already said, it doesn't mean there aren't other Devil Fruit users. Everyone be careful."

"How long until they get here?" Penguin asked.

"They're heading into the forest now," Neo replied. "So it should be much longer before they arrive. There's about fifty of them. They shouldn't be much trouble. I can handle the Devil Fruit user easily enough. It really hasn't been that long since we fought the former user of the Devil Fruit. If this is a new user then they won't have had much time to train with it depending on when the former user died."

Law nodded. He knew she could easily handle whoever had the fruit. But he was still going to stay close to her.

"Finally! I'm ready to fi-" Luffy shouted before getting multiple hands clamped over his mouth.

"Will you shut up?!" Penguin, Shachi, and Usopp asked while they pounced on the Straw Hat captain. "Do you want them to know we're expecting them?!"

Luffy mumbled an "I'm sorry" from behind their hands before they released him and allowed him to sit up. After that they remained sitting close to the young man in case they had to pounce on him again. They all fell back into silence. Listening to the crackling of the fire until they got the signal from Neo.

"They're moving fairly slow so they don't alert us. But they're close enough," Neo said about twenty minutes later.

"We should get into bed then," Law said.

"Right," Everyone agreed before they all started to get up from their fire and get ready for bed. Soon the pirates were tucked under their blankets. The stage was set. All they had to do was wait for the enemy to attack. And that didn't take very long at all. About fifteen minutes after going to bed, the enemy snuck down to their camp and attacked. Positioning themselves over the sleeping crews, they readied their weapons.

"Got ya!" Luffy shouted just before one of the enemies could skew him with his spear. The rubber man landed a punch in the man's face, easily knocking him down. He blinked in confusion at how easily the man went down.

"Fire!" another enemy shouted. Two of them open fired their guns at Franky.

"Those won't work on me," Franky said while bullets bounced off of him. He then grabbed their heads and knocked them together, knocking them out. He then turned to see all of his friends were having just an easy victory as he did. Even the pirates who were hiding in the woods had come down for the attack had easy victories. Zoro was so bored with the fight that he was sitting on a pile of six men, easily cutting down anyone who attacked him.

"Was this really all they could do?" Usopp asked as he stared down at the defeated group on the ground. "No way this is actually possible. It's too easy."

"And where's the Devil Fruit user?" Sanji asked while looking around.

Neo scanned her eyes over the forest just before a strong gust of wind blew over the island.

"What's happening?!" Nami shouted while digging her feet into the ground.

"Whaaa!" Chopper cried as his smaller body blew away with the wind. He hit Usopp in the head making them both fly off in the wind.

"Hey! Come back here!" Luffy shouted. He shot out his hand and grabbed his two airborne friends. "Neo!"

"Right!" Neo nodded. Summoning her wind crystals, she took control of the wind and looked for the one formerly controlling it. The raging winds slowed down to a gentle breeze. Everyone carefully ran their eyes over their surroundings. Not knowing what to expect from this apparently weak crew, they stood ready for whatever came their way. But they weren't ready for what came their way. Neo, locating where the enemy was hiding behind a tree, wrapped her winds around the Devil Fruit user and pulled them into their view.

"What?!" Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy shouted upon seeing the Devil Fruit user. Hanging upside down in Neo's winds, was a blacked haired girl around the age of ten. "She's just a kid!"

"I knew something about this wasn't right," Nami said, lowering her baton.

"Why would a kid…tell me she's not really the leader of this group," Penguin said.

"Let me go! I'm here to fight!" the kid shouted. She tried to pick the wind speed up again, but Neo easily kept the winds calm. "So fight me! Fight me now! Damn you pirates!"

"You're too young to be fighting," Usopp said crossing his arms over his chest. "And you're too young to be using such language. Who the heck are you, kid?"

"I am not a kid! And I'm not young, you stupid pirate! Now let me go!" the girl demanded. She kicked and punched at the wind, trying to free herself.

"This is ridiculous," Zoro said putting up his swords since he obviously didn't need them anymore.

"What do we do now?" Brook asked. "We can't fight a child."

"Law?" Neo looked up at Law.

"I know," Law said with a nod. He knew Neo wouldn't fight a child no matter what. So there was only one solution to this problem. He looked to Bepo. "Go get some sea prism stone cuffs from the sub."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Bepo said before running off to the sub to fulfill his order.

"What's the plan now?" Franky asked.

"We have no choice, but to wait for one of these people to wake up and tell us what's going on," Law said.

"Hey! Wake up!" Luffy shouted. He grabbed one of the men off the ground and started to slap him repetitively. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

"Stop that!" Usopp and Nami shouted before punching their captain.

"Sorry. But I don't want to wait anymore," Luffy said through his swollen face. "It's boring."

"Well, you have no choice! Now be quiet!" Sanji snapped.

…

"I got the sea prism stone chains!" Bepo said as he ran up to them a few minutes later. The chains clanked together, but silenced when he stopped running. He waited for Neo to secure the girl with some vines, before approaching her. Since she was just a kid the cuffs were too small for her. So he had to wrap the chains around her body then cuff her wrists so she wouldn't be able to escape them.

The girl kicked and screamed more curse words while she tried to escape Neo's hold then the sea prism stone chains. "Hey! Let me go! What are you doing?! I said release me! Wha..ish…goin..on? So…eak"

"You don't know about the sea prism stone?" Sanji asked. He pulled his cigarette from his lips and looked around at the people who attacked him. He noticed they were just normal, everyday clothes. None of them seemed to be wearing a jolly roger of any kind. He knew that didn't mean much since not all crews worn their jolly roger on their clothes. But that couple with how easy this fight was gave him the impression they weren't a pirate crew or anyone who knew how to fight a pirate crew.

"Of course I do!" the girl said with a sharp glare at the cook. "Stupid pirate! Let me go!"

"Ouch. It hurts," a man from the enemy group said as he woke up. "What happened? What's going on?"

"We were going to ask you that same question," Usopp said.

"Why don't you just tell us what's going on? Who are you people? You're obviously not pirates," Sanji said.

"They're not?" Nami asked. "When did you figure that out?"

"It should have been obvious they're not really pirates by the way they fought," Robin said. "They lingered too much in following us too. An ambush plan like that is usually used when you're a weak person yourself or facing a very strong opponent when you need the upper hand."

"She's right," the man said. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and rubbed the bump that was on his head. He brushed the dirt out of his black hair before continuing. " We're not fighters or pirates. Most of us are just farmers. I'm sorry. We really didn't want to attack you, but we had no choice."

"What do you mean you had no choice?" Penguin asked.

"That girl there," the man said, "took us from our village. Her name is Mina."

"She took you?!" Usopp shrieked. "But you're fifty grown men!"

"How can that many men get over taken by one little girl?!" Chopper asked.

"Use your heads, morons," Zoro said. "She's a Devil Fruit user."

"That's right." The man nodded. "She came upon that Devil Fruit one day, about five months ago. She took us because we were some of the strongest in our village."

"So why exactly did you attack us? Does she want to be a pirate?" Nami asked. She took a look at the black haired girl lying completely drained on the ground.

"Stupid pirate witch! Damn you! Go to he-" Mina snapped.

"Okay," Nami said, cutting the girl off before she could finish her sentence. "You're not a very nice little girl."

"She's got some mouth on her," Sanji said.

"Sorry about that. She's very headstrong," the man said. "She's only attacking pirates because her parents were killed by a pirate crew. Or so some assume."

"What do you mean by that?" Brook asked.

"When her parents ship sank there was a pirate ship nearby," the man said. "But there was also a storm that hit the area. People blamed the sinking of her parents ship on the pirates rather than the storm."

"So you don't know how her parents died?" Sanji asked.

"I'm afraid not." The man shook his head. "Ever since then she's been dragging us around the sea and forcing us to fight pirates. You're only the third pirate crew we've attacked. We're luck we haven't died. With her Devil Fruit we really haven't had that much trouble with pirates. But we got lucky. Those pirate crews didn't have very big bounties on their heads. And they weren't prepared for our sneak attack and the Wind Wind Devil Fruit."

"She's so reckless," Robin said.

"So why not just put sea prism stone on her?" Usopp asked.

"We don't have any," the man said as the other men started to wake up. "Before she took us she dumped all of the sea prism stone chains, cuffs, and whatever else we had off the island by picking them up with her winds. Then she took us all and headed off on the sea to hunt down pirates."

"We're really sorry," another man said.

"We didn't want to attack you at all," a third one added.

"We tired to reason with her," the first man said. "But she's to angry. She wants all pirates dead. It's understandable since pirates have attacked our village before. She also lost her grandparents to pirates. All she has left is a younger brother who's being taken care of by one of the ladies back home."

"That's rough," Franky said with tears running down his face. "The poor kid."

"We should just let them go," Sanji said. "It's obvious they're telling the truth. Don't you think, Neo?"

"Yeah." Neo nodded before yawning. With a tired sigh, she leaned against Law's side as he wrapped his arm around her. "I believe him. We can let them go."

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded with a bright grin. "They're good people."

"They can keep the sea prism stone chains too," Law said. "Bepo, did you bring the key?"

"Aye, Captain." Bepo nodded. He pulled the key out of his pocket and showed it all to them. "It's right here."

"Do you really mean it?!" the man asked. Hopeful tears gathered in his eyes. "Thank you! Thank you ever so much!"

"It's been so long since we've been home!" the other men shouted.

"I can't wait to see my family!"

"I can't wait to eat my wife's cooking!"

"I'm ready for a bed that doesn't rock!"

"No more sea sickness!"

"Just be sure to keep a close eye on this girl from now on," Usopp said.

"And don't take the sea prism stone chains off of her until she understands what she did was wrong and very dangerous," Chopper said. "Let me treat your wounds before you leave."

"You all should just stay the night here," Sanji suggested. "It's late. And I'm sure you all are tired. You can leave in the morning after a good night's sleep and breakfast."

"Well, if you don't mind," the first man said. "It would be best if we waited until morning to leave."

"What do you say, Captain?" Sanji asked while turning to Luffy.

"It's fine with me," Luffy said before looking at Law. "What do you say?"

"It'll be fine," Law said.

"And look! Neo's already sleeping!" Luffy chuckled. He rushed over to her. Bending over with his hands on his knees, he inspected her snoozing against Law's side. "She's so cute."

"It's getting late," Robin said with a smile at Neo. "We should get her in bed."

Law nodded before picking Neo up in his arms. He smiled when she snuggled against his warmth and mumbled in her sleep. "Law…you're so warm. Sleep with me."

Robin and Nami exchanged grins as Law walked their blue haired friend back over to their spot by the fire. They then looked at Penguin who nodded in understanding. Their idea to get Law to submit to their plan would have to wait until tomorrow.

...

 **Author's Notes: Yeah! Finally started it!**


	2. Vacation P2

Vacation

Part Two

The next morning Law woke up to the sounds of joyous laughter, the smell of their campfire still going strong, and Neo shifting in annoyance beside him, snuggling into him as close as she could in an attempt to get away from the noise that was around them. It annoyed him that the two crews were being so loud and bothering her. They all knew Neo didn't like being woken up, so _why_ were they being so loud? Tightening his arms around her, he opened his eyes and lifted up his head to see what the heck they were doing. The glare he worn on his face faded slightly when he noticed all of the extra people with them and the Straw Hats. He then remembered what happened yesterday. All of these new people wouldn't have known that Neo liked to wake up on her own instead of being woken up by someone. He didn't even think about telling them that last night. Mentally, he kicked himself for not taking Neo to the room when she started falling asleep last night. He was going to do that now. He didn't want her to wake up just yet. So, carefully unwrapping his arms from her, earning a protesting whimper from her, he slipped his arms underneath her pregnant frame and lifted her to his chest where she snuggled back into him contently.

"Taking Neo to your room?" Sanji asked from the fire where he and Basil, the Heart Pirate cook, was working on getting breakfast going for their crews and their guests.

"Yeah." Law nodded. "There are too many people out here. It's going to be impossible to keep all of them quiet until she wakes up." She snuggled into his warmth with a low whimper at being disturbed when some of the men laughed out loud. He shot them men a glare before leaning down to her ear. "Shh, it's all right, love. I'm just moving you into our room so you can sleep some more and not get disturbed by anyone."

Neo hummed and settled into his embrace just before his released his Room over them and the sub. With one quick warp, he took himself, his boots, Neo, and his sword back into their room on the sub. Once they appeared in their room, he laid her down on the bed and warped the cover out from underneath her before settling down onto the bed himself. Propping up on his left arm, he watched her sleep peacefully for several minutes. He knew she wouldn't be waking up for another thirty minutes so he knew he had plenty of time to watch his love sleep. And he did. For those thirty minutes he did nothing but watch her sleep and occasionally brush the back of his fingers over her soft skin.

And just as he thought, thirty minutes later, Law felt her starting to wake up. She rolled over onto her back, pushing the blanket down to her hips while pulling her shirt up over her belly when she brought her hand back up to her face in her sleepy state as she mumbled something incoherently. When he saw the rounding flesh of her stomach, warmth filled Law's chest and he couldn't help but leaned down and place gentle kisss on the stomach housing their infant. As he connected his lips to her skin for the sixth time, her hand found it's way to his hat. She knocked it off then gently clenched his hair. Sleepily, she said, "You better be careful, Trafalgar Law. I might think your trying to seduce me in my state of still being sleepy."

"I might be," Law said before placing another kiss on her stomach. "We don't get much time alone since the Straw Hats are with us."

Neo hummed when Law glided his tongue over her skin and into her naval. She continued to rake her fingers through his hair before giving his black locks a tug. On her silent command, he lifted up, hovered over her, then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a ghost peck. She gladly parted for him, allowing him to slowly tangle their tongues together until the need for air unfortunately forced them apart. Panting softly, she brushed her nose to his, and asked, "How much time do we have?"  
"Enough," Law said. He hooked his thumbs into her pants and pulled them down.

…

Neo brushed the back of her hands on the underside of her hair, pulling her locks out of Law's shirt, before letting it fall back in place against her back. She smiled when Law pressed a kiss to her temple. He said, "You look beyond sexy in my clothes."

"You look even sexier without clothes," Neo said. Turning around, she unwrapped the towel that was hanging on his hips and let it fall to the floor. She then ran her hands up both his thighs before curving them around his hips, pulling him closer to her body. The heat from his shower was still strong on his skin. It gave her a soothing feeling and made her wish she had taken a shower with him. She pressed kisses over his tattooed chest. "You're so warm."

Law chuckled, easily sensing where she wanted to go with this. He raked his fingers through her soft hair before pressing a kiss to it. "We can't do that again, love."

She glanced up at him with a pout. "We could, especially if I use my pheromones on you. You won't be able to resist me."

"We could. And you definitely could. And I definitely couldn't." Law nodded. "But if we do we'll end up spending more time in the sub and Straw Hat will come looking for us. Then we won't be able to enjoy ourselves fully."

"I guess you're correct," Neo said, her pout deepening on her soft lips. "I love the Straw Hats. But, honestly, between having them around, all the fights we get into with rivals, and me taking naps, I don't feel like we're spending much time together lately. I miss being alone with you at times."

"I know," Law said, his heart sinking at the sad look she held in her eyes. "We're getting ready to leave this island soon. Perhaps we can get a few minutes together later."

"You think so?" Neo asked.

"Yes." Law nodded again. "Let's just see where everyone is when we leave. Surely we can sneak some private time together. We can do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?" She asked and he nodded. "Even if it is just snuggling?"

"Yes. Even if it is just snuggling," Law said.

"All right," Neo said as she started running her hands up his inner thighs until she had no farther to go. "But for now we can-"

"No, love," Law said, forcing himself not to release any noise of pleasure from the gently touch of her soft fingers on his own tender skin. He clenched his teeth as she grinned mischievously and tightened her fingers. " _Neo_ …"

"What?" she asked innocently. Her eyes giving him the most innocently look that made him melt.

"We just did that," Law said, gulping down a groan from a tug. If she kept this up, he was going to lose control. And she wasn't even using her pheromones on him at this point. "I meant what I said earlier."

"I know." Neo sighed and took a step back from him. Now upset with him, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him. "But I don't like it. I should have this when I want it."

"Neo, we just got done talking about how Straw Hat will come looking for us if we stay inside for much longer," Law said softly upon feeling her mood swing.

Neo sighed. Dropping her arms to her sides, she turned back to him. "I'm sorry, Law. I didn't mean to get upset. It was just a mood swing."

"I know it was. And I promise I'll make it up to you," Law said.

"Really?" Neo asked.

Law stepped closer to her. Leaned down he nipped her soft spot on her neck. "Have I ever lied to you before?"

"No," Neo said, tilting her head to give him better access to her neck.

"Then here's a preview of what's to come," Law said. He sucked hard on her soft spot while gliding his hands up the inside of his yellow and black hoodie she was wearing. Within seconds, he had her pushed up against the wall and all but screaming his name from the use of his skillful lips and hands.

"L-Law!" Neo gasped, gripping onto his arms for stability as her knees threatened to buckle under her. "I thought you said…"

"That's what you get for teasing me like you did," Law said huskily into her ear. "It's just my turn to tease you. Now you'll have to wait for the rest." With that, he pulled away from her and walked out of the bathroom leaving her to deal with coming down from her high.

"Dang it, Law," Neo grumbled as she reached under his hoodie to readjust her bra. She could feel her entire body burning like a wildfire from what he just did to her. It wasn't really fair. She didn't do _that_ _much_ to him. Huffing in annoyance, she left the bathroom, planted her hands on her hips, and glared at his back while he dressed for the day. "I am releasing my pheromones on you after what you just did. You _are_ going to finish what you just started."

"First of all, _you_ started it, my love. And, no, you're not," Law said, tossing a smirk at her from over his shoulder.

"Oh? I'm not, am I?" Neo crossed her arms and drummed her fingers on her skin.

"You're not," Law said.

"And why is that?" Neo demanded.

"Because you want breakfast," Law said.

"I do…" Neo's voice trailed of just as her stomach started grumbling to her. She pouted again. "Why must you know me so well?"

"Because I love you so much," Law said. "And I felt the pregnancy cravings before you even noticed them. You were too high to even notice them yourself."

"Stupid pregnancy cravings," Neo grumbled. She pulled her eyes away from Law to look at the picture that had her mother in it. "How did you manage being pregnant, mother? And did father ever drive you crazy like Law is doing to me right now?"

"I'm sure she managed just fine with her pregnancy," Law said. He paused for a few seconds before shooting Neo another smirk. "I have more concern with how your dad managed to survive your mother considering how she was when she wasn't pregnant. Remember how she always tried to cut Red Haired's hair when he visited them?"

Neo blinked. She had almost forgotten that story her godfather told them about. It did seem her mother was slightly on the crazy side in some cases. Mix that in with pregnancy hormones, she could easily see her mother being quite the little terror. Her mother, despite the fact she didn't know her at all, was far more outspoken that she was. If she, her mother, were upset she wouldn't hold back. She'd let people know about it. That was something Neo didn't inherit from her mother. But then with the way she grew up, before being found by Law, could have had an affect on that part of her. She might very well be more like her mother if she wasn't abused like she was. She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. Thoughts of her parents and her past were starting to get her down. "I miss them, Law. I wish they could be here for this."

Straightening out his shirt, he walked over to. He kissed her hair and wrapped her in his arms as she started to cry. "I know, love. But you can be sure that they are watching over you right now. I'm sure they're happy that you've grown up into a beautiful, well educated, young woman. And I'm sure they wish they could be here as well. I know they are proud of you. And I know they think you're going to make a wonderful mother yourself."

"Thanks, Law. That's sweet. You always know what to say." Neo wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling back into his soothing warmth. "I'm still upset with you though."

Law chuckled before warping them outside. The warmth from Law's shower was instantly replaced with the cool morning air. It made her snuggle even closer to him while he rested his sword on his shoulder.

Neo took in a deep breath of the salty air before the fresh smells of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, gravy, and pancakes over took the salty smell. It made her food cravings intensify even more inside of her and in Law. "So hungry!"

"I noticed," Law said with a smile.

"Neo! Tra!" Luffy called. Sitting on the ground with his legs crossed up under him and a plate full of food in one hand, he waved wildly at his friends with his other hand. "There you guys are! Sanji and Basil made breakfast! It's so yummy! Come eat with us before it's all gone!"

"Okay," Neo called back while her eyes ran over the strangers that were with them. The little girl was still tied up with the sea prism stone and, despite her tired state, she still looked just as angry as she did last night while the men still looked just as happy to be going home. She also noticed that the majority of them were sitting away from their two crews. She wasn't sure if that was by choice or if it had something to do with her. It didn't really matter. She knew they all were leaving after breakfast. So with her arm still around Law, she guided them forward towards the fire where Sanji and Basil were still cooking. "Good morning."

"Morning, Neo," the majority of their crews said.

"Morning, Neo my sweet!" Sanji sang. He spun around and held out two plates of food, one for her and one for Law. "Here's your breakfast. Hot and ready for you to eat."

"You're so sweet," Neo said, taking her plate while Law took his with a nod of thanks.

"And here's your freshly squeezed orange juice," Basil said, holding out two cups.

"Thanks, Basil," Neo said.

"How's the food supply holding up after feeding so many extra people?" Law asked.

"We'll be fine until the next island," Basil said. He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted an accusing eyebrow at the only blue hair female in the area. "But we might need some extra tea leaves before we get there. _Someone_ keeps using up all the ones we have in stock."

"I'll grow some more once we get sailing," Neo said with a mischievous grin.

"I'm sure you will." Basil winked at her.

"You really love your tea." Sanji laughed. "I surprised you even drink other stuff."

"I do, I do love my tea. It's my favorite, but I like other stuff too. See you later." Neo waved to the two cooks before she and Law wondered back over to the area where they had been sleeping before. Someone had already folded up and took the blanket they were using so they just sat down and leaned back against the log near Luffy and a few others. She happily dug into her plate of food, occasionally picking some off of Law's plate or someone else's who was close by, even Luffy's who would just laugh at her _stealing_ other people's food.

"You better slow down there a bit," Law said. "If you eat too much you're going to make yourself sick."

"I know! But it's just so yummy!" Neo said. "I want more!"

"It sure is!" Luffy said. "Eat! Eat! Eat!"

"Stop encouraging her, Straw Hat!" Penguin snapped. "She's not like _you_! Her stomach doesn't extend to fit large amounts of food then instantly absorb it!"

"Perhaps not," Luffy said with a huge grin. "But she's eating for two now."

"I don't think that's really true," Shachi said. "There's been a lot of debate on that."

"What? Of course it's true," Luffy said. "She has her and Tra's baby inside of her. She eats food and the baby gets what it needs from her."

"Can't argue with that," Shachi said with a shrug.

"You'd lose if you tried," Penguin muttered.

"You guys are so funny," Neo said with a child like smile as she rocked from side to side, two clear signs she was currently going through a Playful Mood Swing. "Mama's eating for baby. Mama has to eat for baby. Mama loves baby." She turned to Law and poked him in the cheek. "And Papa loves baby."

Law took her hand and pressed his lips to her finger. He said, "Yes, Papa loves baby. And Papa also loves Mama."

"Papa loves Mama," Neo chirped before resting her head on his shoulder.

"She's so cute," Penguin squealed.

"I'm just glad these playful mood swings doesn't get the captain acting childish as well," Tero commented as he walked past them.

"Tero just jealous he doesn't have someone to cuddle with," Neo said, nuzzling into Law's arm. "But I still love you."

Tero chuckled, shook his head, and just walked away. He felt it was better to just let her have her fun. He ditched his dirty dishes into the box that Basil had set out then headed for the sub to start getting the sub ready for departure.

It was roughly two hours later when the groups were finally done eating breakfast and loading up their ships in preparation for their next journeys. Gathered at the beach where all three ships were now anchored, the pirates did one last check with the men before they headed off towards their homes.

"Are you sure you all have enough food and water to get back home?" Luffy asked.

"Yes." one said as they all nodded. "We have plenty to get home. We can't thank you all enough for what you did for us. Perhaps this will show Mina that not all pirates are bad."

Mina mumbled something from behind her gag. And judging from the harsh glare she still had in her eyes, it was something very unpleasant. All the pirates, but for Luffy, figured this girl wasn't going to change her opinion on pirates anytime soon, if at all.

"Geez," Usopp said. "If I ever spoke like she did at that age I would get my head knocked off."

"I don't really blame her," Nami said. She closed her eyes in memory of her own mother's death and all of the pain it had brought her and her sister. "Losing your parents can cause a lot of bitterness inside of you."

"Maybe now that they have her under control they can get some help for her," Robin said, placing her hand on Nami's shoulder.

"Yeah." Nami nodded.

"Well, thank you again," the men said before walking up the gangplank to their ship. "We'll be off now."

"Bye!" Luffy waved.

"Take it easy going home!" Franky said.

"Don't get into anymore fights!" Usopp shouted. "If you see another ship, just turn and run as fast as you can!"

"Well, that was an interesting experience," Shachi said.

"Yeah, I hope they find that girl some help before she ends up getting herself or someone else killed," Penguin said.

"Anyway," Nami then said. "There's no point in worrying over it now. We have our own stuff to worry about."

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded. "Let's load up and head out to sea!"

"I think I'm going to ride on the Polar Tang for a while," Chopper said, looking up at Neo. "Would that be all right?"

"Of course it would," Neo said. "You know you all are welcome on our sub at any point in time. I'm going to grow some more tea leaves to harvest, dry, and store. You want to help me with that?"

"Yeah!" Chopper nodded.

' _Says the one who wanted more time alone with me.'_ Law smirked at her through their bond.

' _Oh, hush! They'll be over there anyway!'_

Law's smirk faded into a light frown at that little truth.

' _Besides, it's just Chopper. You know the others are going to be on the Sunny for a while.'_

' _Yeah.'_ Law nodded. "All right, everyone, let's load up, and ship out."

"Aye aye, Captain!" the Heart Pirates shouted. Their voices mixed together as they all started to load up on their separate ships with Neo's help of using her wind crystals to lift them up on the decks.

"We'll see you later, Neo!" Luffy said.

"Okay!" Neo waved to him and the rest of the Straw Hats before heading into the sub with Chopper and Law by her side. "So what are you going to do now?"

"I think I'm going to get a little studying done while the majority of the Straw Hats are on their ship," Law said.

"Can you spend time with me and Chopper?" Neo said. She wrapped her arms around his arm, snuggling into him with pleading puppy dog eyes. "You can study in the galley with us."

"All right," Law said with a chuckle. He pressed a kiss into her hair. "I'll get my books and meet you in the galley."

"You're such a good boy," Neo said. She pecked his cheek then split off with Chopper. The two wondered down to the galley where Basil already was. The man was getting out the containers for the tea leaves that she was going to dry. "Thanks, Bas."

"No problem," Basil said.

"So what are we going to have for lunch?" Neo asked as she sat down on one of the stools that Basil also had sitting out.

"Thinking of lunch already, huh?" Basil asked.

"I can't help it," Neo said with a bright smile. "I'm thinking spaghetti. We haven't had that in a while."

"Sounds good to me," Basil said.

"I think so too," Chopper said. "I really love your breadsticks."

"We'll have to start on lunch then after we get these leaves done," Neo said. She summoned her earth crystals and started growing the tea leaves for them.

"I hope you don't plan on over working yourself, _little girl_ ," Law then said, appearing in the galley with them with four books under his arms. "Your blood pressure is up a little."

"Of course not," Neo said. "I have both my doctors looking out for me. But, if it makes you feel better, I'll let Basil have more control over making lunch. Then later I'll take a nap and a relaxing bath at some point before going to bed. Feel better?"

"Yes." Law pecked her lips then walked over to one of the tables. He spread his books over the tabletop and started studying his medical journals while the other three chattered on about whatever topic popped in their heads as they plucked the tea leaves off of their limbs and laid them out on the pans so Neo could dry them in a few minutes with her crystals.

Soon the midmorning faded away to the rest of the day. Neo stayed in the galley the majority of the morning and afternoon with Law, Chopper, and Basil. And just as she promised, she allowed Basil to have majority of control over making lunch. She still helped out with making the breadsticks and other small things, but stayed on her stool while the second cook moved around the warm galley.

"That was so good!" Shachi said while patting his full stomach.

"It sure was," Topaz agreed. "You two really out did yourselves this time."

"It was all Basil," Neo said while nibbling on her third, and last, breadstick. "I didn't do much this time."

"Thanks all. But it was no big deal," Basil said while filling up the sink with hot water to wash everyone's dishes. "You know I really like cooking."

"And it shows," Tero said, handing over his own dishes to be cleaned while his crewmates started wondering out of the galley while talking about their two cooks and their food.

"It sure does."

"I'm surprised we're not all fat with how much good food we get from Neo and Basil."

"It's because we train as much as we do."

"That's so true. If we didn't train, we'd all be fatties for sure."

"Hey, Jean Bart?" Neo said.

"Yes?" Jean Bart looked up from the newspaper he was looking at.

"Would you mind helping Basil with the dishes?" Neo asked.

"Sure thing." Jean Bart nodded before excusing himself from the table to help the secondary cook finish up the dishes faster.

"Thanks, Jean Bart," Neo said, feeling a bit guilty at having to put her job off on someone else. "I'd do it myself but Law really wants me to take it easy."

"Blame your blood pressure," Law said, his eyes locked down on his book.

"I blame _you_ for what _you_ did earlier," Neo snapped lightly, earning snickers from the remaining crewmates, as they instantly knew what she was talking about. "My blood pressure wouldn't be up at all if you hadn't done _that_."

Law smirked at her before dropping his eyes back down to his book.

"Oh! You!" Neo said, a little miffed that Law did what he did on purpose and wasn't taking responsibility for it.

"Don't worry, love. I'll take full responsibility for it late when we conclude what I started," Law said.

Neo felt her face flush at his words and the crew cheering for whatever their imaginations created on what Law did to her. She kneaded her eyebrows at them and summoned her crystals.

"Don't worry about it. I understand," Jean Bart said, expertly shooing his crewmates out of the room with one look before they found themselves on the receiving end of Law or Neo's wrath. "I'm happy to help."

"Thanks, Jean Bart," Neo said. She pulled her crystals closer to Law, in a silent threat.

Law just smirked at her again. Both knew she wouldn't turn her crystals on him in a serious way no matter what.

"Neo!" Luffy's voice then called out.

"In here, Luffy," Neo said, banishing her crystals. "What's up?"  
"Not much," Luffy said. "We just got done eating lunch. It was so good."

"Same here," Neo said.

"We came over to read some books of yours," Nami said. "If that's all right with you."

"You know it's all right with me," Neo said. "I think I'll read too since all Law wants to do right now is study."

"Then I'll take this back to our room where I'll be more comfortable and have more privacy," Law said, gathering up his books. He pecked Neo's lips before wondering away from everyone. "See you later. Call if you need me for anything."

"I will, my love," Neo said while watching him disappear from the galley.

"Hey," Penguin said, poking his head back into the room. His eyes lingering on the two Straw Hat women, as they looked at him all three knowing exactly why they were here, before he continued speaking. "We're starting a poker game. Anyone want to join?"

"Sounds like fun," Luffy said.

"Fine. But don't you dare waste any of my money," Nami said.

"I have plenty of my own," Luffy said before running out of the room with Penguin close behind.

Nami sighed.

"Shall we go then?" Robin asked Neo.

Neo's eyes wondered over to the two men in the galley. The dishes were almost cleaned up and they were busy chatting amongst themselves. "Okay. Let's go."

The three women and one reindeer then wondered through the sub and up to the rec. room where the rowdy poker game was already going. The boys, and Topaz, had their cards dealt out and a few snacks scattered around the table. They chatted amongst themselves, Penguin pausing to give the two Straw Hat women a curious look before turning his hidden eyes back down to his cards, while Neo and the others plucked their books from the shelves and settled into the room to read while listening to the poker players.

Then about ten minutes after three in the afternoon, Neo started to get tired. Robin said, "You should sleep now."

"Uh huh," Neo murmured. Her head dropped to Robin's shoulder and she quickly fell asleep, her book becoming lax in her hands.

Robin smiled at the girl leaning against her. She took the book out of Neo's hands while Chopper pulled the small blanket, that was on the back of the couch, over their friend.

"She's so cute," Nami said before looking over at the poker players. "You all try to keep it down."

"You got it!" they all said louder than they should have. It caused Neo to grumble in her sleep and snuggle closer to Robin. "Sorry."

Nami just shook her head and went back to reading her book with Robin and Chopper.

About two hours later, Neo started to wake up. She stretched a little and yawned before opening her eyes. She looked up and was greeted with a warm smile from Robin. "Sorry, I used you as a pillow. You were just so comfortable to lean on."

"It's quite all right," Robin said.

"Did you sleep well?" Chopper asked, pulling his blood pressure cuff and stethoscope out of his bag. Putting them in place, he checked Neo's vitals.

"Yeah, I did," Neo said with another yawn. "But I was having a weird dream about Bepo being half bear and half fish. He kept trying to eat himself."

"I can see that happening," Penguin said with a laugh.

"Hey!" Bepo protested. "Not funny!"

"I think it was," Shachi said.

"Where's Luffy?" Neo looked around the room for the missing pirate before sensing him downstairs. "Never mind. I can sense him near our room. I think he's bothering Law again. Or trying to."

"Your blood pressure is back to normal. Law will be pleased. Luffy wondered out of here about twenty minutes ago while complaining about boredom," Chopper said while he put up his doctor supplies. "First he went down to the galley."

"The galley?" Neo asked.

"He was trying to sneak some food from dinner," Nami said. "We heard Basil yelling at him from all the way up here."

"Oh, dear," Neo said. She adjusted the blanket over her lap. "I didn't think I'd sleep through making dinner."

"Don't worry about it," Penguin said. "You know Basil's capable of handling it himself. Besides, some others went to help him."

"That's good to hear," Neo said, settling back down in the couch until it was time for dinner. Just before they all started getting up to head down to the galley, Law entered into the rec. room. He instantly took Neo's hand, kissed her, and walked with her down to dinner. Feeling a bit like being closer to him, she sat on his lap all through dinner and only separated from him afterwards when he went back to studying and she went back to reading her book with the others. Then it was fifteen minutes to nine when Neo placed her book down on her lap. She stretched her arms out and yawned tiredly.

"Getting sleepy again?" Robin asked, lowering her own book to her lap. It was fairly quiet in the sub at that point. A lot of the Heart Pirates had already gone to bed while a few were still mingling about the sub doing whatever they felt like doing before going to bed themselves. Luffy, however, was already asleep himself, half hanging over the back of the chair he was sitting on.

"Yeah." Neo nodded while attempting to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"It's starting to get late anyway," Chopper said, closing his book. "We should all probably head off to bed soon. And you still need to take your bath like you told Law you were going to."

"Oh, right," Neo said, smiling at Chopper. "I almost forgot about that. Would you like to take a bath with me?"

"Sure." Chopper nodded. "It's my bath day anyway."

Luffy snapped awake. "Huh? What's going on?"  
"Chopper and I are going to take a bath before going to bed," Neo said, placing her book back on the bookshelf.

"I see," Luffy said. He righted himself in the chair he was sitting on and smiled. "I guess I'm going to go back over to the Sunny now." He looked at Robin and Nami. "You two coming?"

"Not just yet," Nami said from the big armchair. "I want to finish this chapter."

"You go ahead, Luffy," Robin said. "I'll use my powers to bring us back over to the Sunny."

"All right then." Luffy jumped up from the chair and headed for the door. "See you all tomorrow."

"Night, Luffy," Neo said before her rubber friend disappeared into the hall.

"Shall we go?" Chopper asked.

Neo nodded.

"Good night, Neo, Chopper," Robin said.

"See you two in the morning," Nami said.

Neo waved to the two women while she left with Chopper's hoof in her hand.

"Shall we get going?" Nami asked.

"Let's give them a few minutes to get to their room," Robin said. "Then we'll go find Penguin."

"Okay." Nami nodded in agreement then settled back into her chair to wait for the right moment to leave the room themselves.

…

"You know, Neo," Chopper said as they walked down the hall of the sub. "I really like your home. But I have to be honest and say that I don't think I'd like to permanently live in a sub. I really like the openness of our ship."

"I can understand that," Neo said. "We both are a part of nature so it's natural for us to want to be in it."

"So how do you manage living in the sub?" Chopper asked.

"We don't go underwater as much as you might think," Neo said. "We spend most of the time above the surface. We're also out on the deck quite a bit. Bepo loves taking naps out there. And we take enough breaks on islands so I get plenty of time with nature."

"Oh, I see," Chopper said. "That makes sense."

"I love this place so much," Neo said. "I'd hate to lose the sub. But I know it's just a material object that will someday have to be replaced. I just hope it's a long time before that happens. Whatever happens, as long as I'm with Law and the crew, I know it'll be fine despite how hard it's going to be to let this place go."

"I guess so," Chopper said, looking around at the greyish blue walls. "You grew up here after all. This is the only real home you've ever really known."

"It sure is," Neo said.

"But, if you ever had to stop sailing, what would you do?" Chopper looked up at her. "Would you find a place on an island somewhere in the human world or would you go back to Luminous?"

"Hm." Neo hummed. "I really don't know. I suppose it would be nice to live on Luminous if we ever had to leave the pirate world. I guess that's just something Law and I would have to discuss if it ever came to that. It would be beneficial for our child to grow up there, but living among humans also has its benefits."

Chopper nodded in understanding just as they reached the bedroom door. Neo opened the door, allowing him to go in first before following after him. A smiled instantly came to her face when her eyes locked with Law's. Her lover was sitting at his desk with a bunch of files scattered around. She knew it was files on the sub and their missions. Files she didn't often get involved with since she didn't understand the majority of the words used in them. "Hey, Law."

"Coming to take a bath, I assume," Law said.

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "I was getting pretty tired. So I decided to come take my bath and head to bed. Chopper's going to take it with me. You want to join us?"

"I think not." Law smirked. _'If I take a bath with you, I want it to just be us.'_

"You going to be reading those things for much longer?" Neo asked as she stepped over to their closet to get her a pair of nightclothes to put on.

"For a little while longer," Law said. "I'm almost done with these forms."

"I'm glad I don't have to mess with all of that technical stuff," Neo said, looking over Law's shoulder. She wrinkled her nose at the confusing words on the paper then kissed Law's cheek and headed to the bathroom.

"Just one of the joys of being captain of a sub," Law said, watching Neo walk away from him from the corner of his eyes.

 _'You sure you don't want to join us?'_

 _'I'm sure. I don't want an audience for what we often do in the bath.'_

 _'Suit yourself. But you're making this up to me later.'_

 _'I will.'_

 _'Promise?'_

 _'Promise. After all we still have to finish what we started earlier.'_

Neo shot him a seductive smirk before closing the door, cutting them from each other's sight. She sighed, wishing he would change his mind about the bath, but he was correct. They really didn't need an audience, not even Chopper. She smiled down at the reindeer as he started to strip off his clothes. Summoning her water crystals, she filled the tub while taking off her own clothes. The two then climbed into the steamy water together. She leaned back against the tub while Chopper sighed and sunk against her legs. He said, "This feels so good on my fur. You always get the temperature just right."

Neo giggled, her bells filling the bathroom and making Chopper's cheeks flush with delight. "Of course. I have to take care of you since you're my friend."

"You're so sweet," Chopper said.

…

A few minutes after Neo and Chopper left the rec. room, the two Straw Hat females finally put up the books they were reading and left themselves. They slipped out into the hall, glancing both ways before heading off to finding their first quarry. They had decided that now was the best time to get Penguin and finally get their second target to give Neo a honeymoon. They just hoped he hadn't gone to bed yet in an attempt to get out of doing this. But that wouldn't matter. They'd wake him up, rudely if necessary, if he did try that.

"Hey, ladies," Topaz said when the two Straw Hats came across her in the hall. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothings wrong," Nami said. "We're just looking for Penguin."

"I think he's down in the training room," Topaz said. "He was down there a few minutes ago anyway."

"Thanks a lot," Nami said. "See you later."

"Uh, sure," Topaz said. She watched in confusion as the two women smiled and passed on by her. Shrugging her shoulders, she continued on towards her own destination of getting a snack from the galley.

Shuffling down the stairs, they made their way to the training room. Inside Penguin was with Jean Bart and Tero. They were just sitting around talking instead of training. The two women stayed over by the door, trying not to get spotted by the other two since they didn't want to alert anyone else to their plans. Robin used her powers to create a hand and arm beside Penguin. She tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump at the sight off her limb sticking out from the wall.

"What's wrong, Penguin?" Jean Bart asked, noticing him jump.

"Nothing," Penguin said. "I just thought I saw something. It just startled me."

"Okay," Tero drawled since it wasn't that easy to startle anyone on their crew.

Penguin felt his body tense up. He knew he might have goofed a bit. But when the two men turned back to each other and started talking again, he relaxed. His eyes wondered from them to the two women over by the door trying to get his attention. Upon seeing the two women, he knew instantly what they wanted. He still didn't want to do it, but agreed and knew it was too late to back out of this now. He said, "Well, I think I'm going to go back to my room."

"All right," Tero said.

"See you in the morning," Jean Bart added.

Penguin nodded at the two before rushing, at a steady pace, towards the door.

"For a moment there we thought you were going to back out on us," Nami said, following the annoyed man.

"I still can't believe I let you two talk me into this," Penguin said as he led the way from the training room to his shared room with Shachi. He opened the door, carefully glancing around to see if his roommate was here. When he confirmed the room was empty, he went on in.

"Oh, stop complaining. Do you have the sea prism stone chain?" Nami said, planting a hand on her hip.

"Yes." Penguin knelt down and pulled open of the built in drawers that was under his bunk. He flipped away a shirt then pulled the chain out and handed it over to Nami.

"It'll be fine. I'll handle the sea prism chain right here. All you have to do is get Tra in the room. We'll handle all of the talking," Nami said.

"Do you have any idea how furious he's going to be?" Penguin asked. "You do realize you're going to put sea prism chains on him, don't you?"  
"Oh, we're not going to put them on him unless he tries to warp out of here," Nami said. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a shove towards the door. "Now go get him. This is our only chance, Neo should just be crawling in the bath with Chopper a few minutes ago. Once she gets out she'll probably want to cuddle up to Tra for a while as she falls asleep. You know she really loves to do that."

"I know. I'm going, I'm going." Penguin sighed heavily to himself as he left his room with his shoulders drooping low. He wanted to take his time in going to his destination, but knew he didn't need to linger. Soon, too soon, he found himself standing at his captain and Neo's bedroom door. Standing there, he tried to work up the courage to actually knock on the door as he just stared at it from underneath his hat. Eventually, he found himself to be standing there in the same spot for ten minutes. Time passed really quickly if you feared for your life. It was such a rush. But if he waited any longer they'd come out before he even lifted up his hand to knock. He reached his hand up but dropped it right back to his side. Suddenly, a chuckle left his lips when he realized the irony he was stuck in. He was standing here trying to convince himself to knock on _Death's Door._ The very thought made him shiver. He knew his captain wasn't going to be upset with them trying to get him to take Neo on a late honeymoon. He just knew threatening his captain with sea prism stone was one of the stupidest ideas they could possibly do. Yet here he was still going along with the Straw Hats' insane plan. He needed to just get this over with. So, without further delay, he forced himself to lift his hand up and knock on the door.

"Come in," Law's muffled voice said.

"Okay." Penguin breathed in and released it before opening the door. He did his best to keep his features and his racing heart calm as he stepped inside of the room. He scanned his eyes around the room and found that Neo was indeed in the bathroom from the splashing and giggles he heard coming from the smaller room. Still, he said, "I guess Neo's still in the bath?"  
"Yeah," Law said, not looking up from the books he now had sprawled out over his desk. "She felt like taking a bath for a while. Tony's in there with her too."

"I see," Penguin said. "So what are you working on?"

"I'm going over the Elemental pregnancy books again," Law said.

"I should have known," Penguin said. "You've been slaving over those ever since you got back from Dressrosa."

Law only nodded in agreement. And he would continue to go over them from now until their baby arrived. He didn't want to miss a single thing, even by accident. A few minutes later, when Penguin didn't say anything, he finally looked up from his books. "If you're here for Neo it's going to be a while before she gets out of the tub."

"I know," Penguin said with a nervous grin. "I was…I came here to ask you something."

"Then what is it?" Law asked.

"I was wondering if you'd come to my quarters for a minute or two?" Penguin asked. His heart leaped into his throat when Law gave him a confused look. It wasn't often one of them asked their captain to come to their quarters. He expected him to object right out.

"All right," Law said.

"Huh?" Penguin breathed out, wondering if he heard that correctly.

"I can take a short break," Law said.

"Uh, okay," Penguin said, confused at why his captain wasn't going to ask any questions about this meeting he wanted.

Law scooted his chair back from his desk and stood up. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked passed Penguin and out the door. He paused and looked back at his subordinate when he didn't hear the man's footsteps following. "Are you coming or not?"  
"Uh, yeah," Penguin said, rushing to leave the room. "I'm coming."

Quietly, the two men made their way down to the crew's quarters. Penguin took nervous glances at the imposing man beside him. He felt like he was going to break out in a cold sweat, if he didn't die from his heart beating so hard inside of his ribs. He had to take a few slow breaths to calm himself down before he passed out from all of the anxiety he was putting himself through. He felt like the sub had grown larger somehow as the walk through the halls seem to take forever. Finally, after what felt like an entire year going by, they reached their destination.

Law entered into the room first. He turned around to face Penguin just before the door to the room shut by Robin who had happened to be hiding behind the door. He asked, "What's going on here?"

"Sorry," Penguin said. "They made me do it."

"We need to talk to you, Tra," Nami said, stepping out of the closet with the sea prism stone chain in her hand.

Law eyed the chain in the navigator's hand with a frown, instantly feeling the negative energy coming from the thing. "You better not be planning on using that on me."

"I will unless you listen to us," Nami said, the chain jingled as she shifted her weight.

"You better start talking," Law said to Penguin.

"TheywantyoutotakeNeoonahoneymoon!" Penguin rattled out was so fast that they all almost didn't understand what he said.

"What?" Law asked.

"We think you should take Neo on a late honeymoon," Nami said. "We already have the perfect place picked out. It's the Sunrise Resort."

"No," Law said flatly.

"Just listen," Nami said. "It will be the perfect place for a honeymoon. You'll get your own private room…"

"No," Law said.

"You'll get fancy dinners…"

"No."

"Dancing…"

"No."

"They accept pirates…"

"No."

"It has an amusement park so Luffy won't bother you two…"

"No," Law said more firmly before lifting his hand to warp himself out of the room. "And I'll hear no more about it."

"It will make Neo happy," Robin said.

The smoke swirl under Law's hand faded. He looked to the dark haired woman.

"We all know she won't care much about having an actual honeymoon as long as she's with you and your crew," Robin continued. "But it would be good for both of you to do this for yourselves. As things are right now, you don't spend all that much time together. And that strained time will only get smaller once the baby arrives. Now is the perfect time for you two to finally have a honeymoon. Don't you want that?"

Law sighed. He hated to admit it but she did make a lot of sense. Neo wouldn't ever push for a honeymoon as long as she got to be with him. And their time to spend alone together was going get smaller once their baby arrived. And it would be a nice surprise for her. She's never been on a honeymoon or to a resort before. "All right. Plot a course to this Sunrise Resort."

"Yes!" Nami squealed. "Neo's going to love it!"

"She is." Robin nodded with a smile.

"Isn't this just the best?" Nami turned to Penguin who was completely white. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes," Penguin squeaked. Coming back to his sense, he cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm fine. I just saw my life flash before my eyes. Despite that, why didn't you question why I was asking you to come all the way down here?"

"I just thought you had a private matter you wanted to discuss," Law said.

"I see," Penguin said.

"And you were worried," Nami said. "We didn't even have to use the sea prism chains on him."

"I had a right to be worried!" Penguin snapped. "I'm never going to do something like that again! Even with permission to confront the captain a bit where Neo is concerned!"

"At least we got what we wanted," Robin said.

"Then next time _you_ go get the captain!" Penguin said.

"We should start planning ahead right now," Nami said. "We should be close enough to the island to pick up a transponder snail. We'll need to get them a room for sure. And I want to book a massage for myself. It would be great if Neo could get one, but I know she won't like people touching her."

"It doesn't matter," Robin said with a calm smile. "I'm sure Tra will be more than willing to give her a massage in the privacy of their room."

"That's correct," Nami said. "Let's see what else do we need to do? Since it's a resort will need to get Neo a fitting swimming suit. Unless, Tra here doesn't mind her wearing her bi-"

"Absolutely not!" Law hissed with red cheeks. "Neo is _not_ allowed to wear that _thing_ outside of the crew! And don't you even dare think about encouraging her to try and get me to change my mind! It won't work! I put my foot down on that!"

"Oh, fine," Nami said. "We won't do that. So we'll go shopping once we're all checked into our hotel rooms."

"We'll need to make sure we're far enough away from Tra and Neo so Luffy doesn't have the option of constantly bugging them," Robin said.

"Of course." Nami nodded. "And we'll need to have Luffy bunk with Sanji and Zoro to make sure he stays under control as much as possible."

"We should probably keep this a secret between ourselves for now," Penguin said, looking over at Law. "Unless you don't want it to be a surprise for her."

"I think I'd like to keep it a secret," Law said. "She'll like the surprise."

"All right then. Just keep your thoughts clear of all of our plans," Nami said.

Law nodded. He was already working on filtering these plans to the back of his mind. "It's settled then. Go ahead and plot a course to the Sunrise Resort."

"Already in course," Nami said with a mischievous grin. "We'll be there the day after tomorrow."

Law lifted an eyebrow at her, wondering how she pulled that off. Now it was clear they were heading for that resort in the first place. That mischievous grin said it all. He sighed. He should have known they would have pulled something like this. He had no choice but to let it go since he already agreed to it. He then left the room and headed back to his own.

"Oh, Captain," Topaz said when she happened to come across him. "I didn't expect to see you down here. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Law said. He paused and stared at the young fire Elemental in front of him. He wondered for a split second if he should tell her what was going on or not. He decided to go ahead and tell her. "I was actually speaking to Penguin, Nami, and Nico. They suggested I take Neo to Sunrise Resort for a late honeymoon."

"Wow," Topaz said. "I've heard of that resort. Neo will like it there a lot. I think it's a good idea."

Law nodded. "We're keeping it a secret from her though. So don't go telling anyone else. I don't want this to accidently get around to her."

"You got it, Captain." Topaz saluted. "Just let me know if there's anything I need to do."

"I'll let you know." Law nodded. Stepping around her, he headed back to his and Neo's room. Opening the door, he found that Neo and Chopper had finally finished their bath, both were completely dry, and now sitting on the bed.

"Law, you disappeared down to the boys' quarters," Neo said, pouting. "We came out here and you were gone. You could have told me you were leaving."

"Sorry, love," Law said. He walked over to the bed and placed an apologetic kiss on her forehead. "Penguin needed to talk to me about something."

"Oh." Neo nodded, thinking it was a private matter between her brother and their doctor. "All right then. You're forgiven for not telling me."

"Good," Law said. "Now get into bed."

"We _are_ in bed." Neo smirked.

Chopper placed his hooves over his mouth to suppress a giggle at Neo's playful defiance.

"Don't you dare get smart with me, _little girl_ ," Law said with a chuckle.

"Oh, and why not?" Neo asked, her hand slowly moving towards his pillow. "What are _you_ going to do about it, _Doctor Trafalgar_?"

"Keep up the sassy tone and I'll show you exactly what I'll do," Law said. He lightly flicked her nose with his finger then turned around in an attempt to go back to his studying. But just as he turned his back to the two on the bed, Neo whacked him with his pillow. With lightning fast reflects, he formed his Room and warped his pillow out of her hand.

"Hey!" Neo protested. "That's cheating! And a cheep shot!"

"And hitting me from behind isn't?" Law swung his pillow at her, nailing her on the arm.

"Oh! You're going to pay for that!" Neo said. She snatched her pillow and started swinging it at her lover just as he swung at her. Soon laughter from all three parties filled the room as they continued to assault each other with their pillows.

…

 **Author's Notes: Finally got the next chapter up. Still working on getting myself in order so updating for them all will be slow for a while, plus going outta town next week. Suppose to have Internet access but won't know for sure until I get there. For now Monkey D. Law or Trafalgar D. Law, Whispers on the Wind, Summoner of Death and Silver Blood have also been updated.**

 **Sarge1130: Things are going to be a lot different from the original. I think you'll all like it. I wanted Penguin to be the one to convince Law on the honeymoon but while writing it Nami and Robin somehow became the ones who actually did that.**

 **Son of Whitebeard: Thanks. Here's the next chapter.**

 **Silver Pride: I'm ready for the resort fluff too.**

 **Apple Bloom: No she's not. The little girl was just a minor conflict.**


	3. Vacation P3

Vacation

Part Three

Nami took a deep breath and released it slowly. It was now time to put their plan into action. She was as ready as she possibly could be. She and Robin had already called ahead to Sunrise Resort and got their rooms all reserved for both crews. Now the only thing she had to do was _accidently_ reveal to Luffy that the resort was near by and it had an amusement park. That was going to be easy enough since her map was clearly labeled with the resort on it. All she had to do was drop her map where Luffy could see it. It was all down hill from there. She knew he's heard of this resort before and would be dying to go to the amusement park the second he saw it. So she picked up her map and left her navigation room.

She lifted her arm to cover her eyes from the bright sun beating down on her as she looked up and breathed in the salty air. It was currently really hot. So stopping at a duel climate resort sounded really great at this point. "Looks like we're picking a good time to stop at this resort. With the island's duel climate temperatures, this hot weather will be easy to deal with."

"Nami, my sweet!" Sanji cooed when she started walking down the stairs to the deck. "I have a refreshing cool drink made for you all! It's the perfect thing to chase way this hot weather!"

"Thanks, Sanji," Nami said. She smiled internally when she saw Luffy was on deck as well. In fact they all were currently on the deck. The Straw Hat captain was lying across the small, round table where Sanji was placing their drinks down for them.

"I'm so bored!" Luffy whined.

"Then go fishing," Usopp said from his spot on the deck where he was tinkering with some device.

"It's too hot to fish," Luffy said.

"It's too hot to do anything," Chopper said. He was slumped in a chair just dripping with sweat. He snatched up one of the drinks and sucked it down desperately.

"It must be doubly hot for you," Franky said to the sweaty reindeer. "That fur coat of yours must make you super hot."

"Don't remind me," Chopper said. "I haven't felt this hot since we were in Alabasta."

"Maybe we should ask Neo to bring us some more wind," Brook said looking at the sail, which was barely filled with any wind at all. "I'm so hot that my skin is melting off of me. But then I don't have skin. Yohoho!"

"Stop complaining, guys," Nami said. She dropped her map on the table, right next to Luffy, before sitting down next to Robin who flipped the page of her book. The two women's eyes met with a brief sparkle. Their plan had been official put into action now. Just like they knew he would, Luffy instantly looked at the map the second it hit the table. "And give Neo a break. She's not your personal climate controller. She doesn't have an endless supply of magic to keep you lot at a comfortable temperature. Plus, she's not over her magic disappearing on her yet. She's still got a couple weeks left before that goes away."

"Just leave her be," Zoro said, his sweat shimmering in the sunlight as he pumped his weights. "You don't need her to cool things down. Think of this as training."

"It's too hot to think," Chopper said.

"I believe Neo's in the bath right now anyway," Robin said, flipping to the next page of her book.

"Hey, wait a second," Luffy said, his eyes still locked on Nami's map. "I know this place. Doesn't this island have that one resort with the duel climate thingy?"

"Duel climate?" Chopper lifted up his head and looked at the map. "As in cool weather?"

"Huh?" Nami glanced over at the map casually. "Oh, yeah. That's Sunrise Resort. It's a duel climate island, summer on one side, winter on the other. It's a real hot spot for people. Even pirates go there."

"And it has an amusement park!" Luffy cheered, his eyes sparkling happily. He picked up the map and pointed at it like a child. "We have to go there!"

"Just great," Sanji grumbled. "It's going to be Sabaody all over again."

"Come on, guys!" Luffy said. "This is exactly what we need! It's not like we're doing anything else right now! It's perfect timing!"

"Well, he does have a point there," Usopp said. He brushed his arm over his forehead, wiping the sweat away only to have more replace it. "I could use a break from this heat too."

"But we just stopped at an island the other day," Nami said.

"That was only because that girl was trying to kill us," Luffy said. "It was no fun at all. This place will be tons of fun. Come on. Let's go."

"Well, I guess we could," Nami said. "For a little while at least."

"Yes! We're going to a resort!" Luffy and Chopper cheered while dancing around the deck with each other. "We're going to a resort! We're going to a resort!"

"Wait a second, Luffy," Nami said, holding out her hand to her captain. "We have to ask Tra about this first. We're still in an alliance with the Heart Pirates after all."

"Then lets go talk to them now!" Luffy shot out his hand and wrapped it around Nami.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Nami shrieked. But it was too late. Luffy had shot his other hand over to the sub railing and had them flying through the air. "I'm going to kill you one of these days!"

Luffy just laughed. He held on tight to both his hat and navigator as they flew through the air.

"Look out!" Nami cried out to the Heart Pirates that were on the deck of the sub. The pirates screamed and scattered just before Luffy landed on the deck with a thud. His landing rocked the sub, throwing the pirates to their knees.

"Hey! What's wrong with you, Straw Hat?!" Ikkaku shrieked. "Are you trying to kill us?!"

"Of course not!" Luffy said with a smile. "We came over here to tell you we're stopping at the Sunrise Resort! They have an amusement park! We're going to have so much fun!"

"Huh?" Ikkaku blinked. "You can't be serious."

"The captain's never going to go for that," Uni said.

"Never," Clione added. "Don't bother asking."

"Of course he'll go for it," Luffy said. "It has an amusement park." He then bolted towards the open door with Nami still under his arm. "See you later! We've got to go find Tra!"

"Luffy! Put me down!" Nami shrieked as the two Straw Hats disappeared into the sub.

"They're crazy," Ikkaku said. "No doubt about it."

"Mhmm." Clione and Uni nodded as they stared after the Straw Hats.

…

With one hand in his pocket and the other holding his sword on his shoulder, Law was strolling lazily through the slightly cool halls of the sub thanks to Neo's wind crystals. He really didn't want her to use her crystals since they've been disappearing on her throughout the day. But the sub was so hot and the crew, mostly Bepo, was complaining about it so she was keeping the crew, her babies, comfortable as much as she could. He was abruptly stopped by the sounds of his crew screaming, a few bangs, and Luffy's laughter.

"Hey!"

"Straw Hat!"

"Watch where you're going! This isn't a playground! We have expensive equipment in here!"

"Sorry!" Luffy laughed.

Law sighed to himself. He knew instantly what this sudden invasion of the annoying Straw Hat captain meant. Everything had been set on Nami and Robin's end of their plan for him to give Neo a honeymoon. The two Straw Hat women concocted this little idea of having Luffy demand to go to the resort so he wouldn't have to lie to Neo about why they were stopping again so soon. The plan involved having Neo go off with the Straw Hats, and some of their own crew if they wanted, while he packed their bags and moved them into the honeymoon suite of the hotel they were staying at. Then, at some point later, he was going to rejoin them then show Neo to their room. And, hopefully, get to spend the rest of their stay with her alone and with zero to little interference from anyone else, especially Luffy. He took a relaxing breath when Luffy's pounding footsteps came closer to him.

"Hey! Tra!" Luffy said when he spotted the Heart captain. "We've been looking for you!"

"Luffy! Put me down already!" Nami snapped.

"What do you want, Straw Hat?" Law asked like he didn't know the reason for this intrusion. "Besides to disrupt and anger my crew?"

"We're stopping at Sunrise Resort!" Luffy cheered, stopping abruptly in front of the Heart Pirate captain.

"What?" Law asked.

"I think what he means is, we came over here to _ask_ you if it's all right to stop at the Sunrise Resort," Nami said, still hanging from under Luffy's arm, she jerked her thumb at Luffy. "This moron caught a glimpse of one of my maps. Now he wants to stop at the resort to have some fun."

"Of course I do! We all need some fun!" Luffy said. "Besides, it's a duel climate island! It'll be cool there!"

"And what does that have to do with anything?" Law asked.

"More fun!" Luffy said.

Law sighed. "I guess you're not going to take no for an answer, huh?"

"Nope," Luffy said. "Come on, Tra. It'll be fun."

"If you say so," Law said.

"Yes! We're stopping!" Luffy cheered.

"We're not stopping anywhere unless you put me down!" Nami growled.

"Oh, sorry." Luffy righted Nami and sat her down on her feet before dashing back down the hall. "I'm going to tell everyone we're stopping! Starting with the bear!"

"I take it everything when according to plan?" Law asked when Luffy was completely gone from their sight.

"Yeah," Nami said, straightening out her shirt. "You going to tell Neo now?"  
"Yeah." Law nodded. "She's in the bathtub at the moment. I was heading there anyway."

"You got everything under control with her?" Nami asked. "She doesn't suspect anything, does she?"  
"No, she doesn't suspect a thing," Law said. "I've kept a tight enough hold on my thoughts that she hasn't noticed."

"Good," Nami said. "We'll be arriving at the island in about two hours."

"That'll be fine," Law said.

"See you later then," Nami said. She waved while turning and heading back down the hall. "I'm going to go plan our shopping spree with Robin. Be sure to give Neo plenty of money."

"That woman and her obsession with money," Law grumbled under his breath. Shaking his head, he turned and continued on his way towards their room. He knew he could give Neo a mountain size pile of cash and she'd spend very little of it. She never was one for materialistic possessions. All she needed, and would ever really need, was him and her loved ones. For the moment, he didn't want to give her any because of what the Straw Hat women had planned for her. They were going to get her a more fitting bathing suit for this island since he didn't want her wearing her bikini in front of anyone but himself, their crew, and, reluctantly, the Straw Hats. He knew he'd be sticking close to her side while she was wearing a bathing suit of any kind while around strangers. Some men, after all, didn't know how to take no for an answer. He wasn't going to let anyone, man or woman, get near his love while she was wearing a swimming suit.

…

Neo sighed contently as she continued to soak in her cool bath. Normally, she preferred hotter ones, but with how hot it's been today, she felt like cooling off. She scooped a handful of water and dropped it over her arm before trialing her hand down her skin. It felt so good being in the water right now. But she had been in here for over three hours and was really starting to look like a prune. So she decided it was time to get out. She sensed Law coming in her direction anyway. She felt like playing with him. She stood up, the water swishing as she went, dripping off her body while she unplugged the drain and stepped out onto the floor. She summoned her wind crystals to dry herself then wrapped a towel around her body, despite having brought a pair of clothes with her. She then grabbed her body lotion and stepped out of the bathroom. Sense Law was only a few feet away from the door, she sat down on their bed, facing the door, and squirted some lotion into her hand. She waited until Law started opening to door to start applying the lotion to her right leg in slow, seductive strokes. She smiled innocently when she felt his heart skip a beat at her pose. "Hey, Law."

Law tilted his head, his eyes gliding with her hand as it made its way all the way up to her hip. His cheeks tinted pink when he realized he got caught in her trap. He closed the door with a sigh. "I should have known. I saw you carrying your clothes into the bathroom when you went in there hours ago. If you had this planned, why did you take so long in the bath?"

"It was just a spur of the moment thing due to a playful mood swing. And I wouldn't take so long in the bath if _you_ didn't make me so sore all the time from our love making," Neo said, stoking her hand over her leg again. "We're always having so much sex. Despite using protection, I'm surprised we didn't conceive a child before now."

Law chuckled. He moved towards her. Placing his sword against the wall and his hat on the nightstand, he sat down beside her and pressed his lips to her bare shoulder. He said, "Well, I haven't heard you complaining about our love making or about how often we have sex. In fact, you often scream for more during, before, and after." He pressed his lips back to her skin, working his way to her soft spot. "You taste so good."

Neo hummed at his soft lips working their magic over her sensitive, water-softened skin. "Only because you're so good at what you do." She gasped when he lightly pressed his teeth into her skin. "In the beginning I never would have guessed your skillful surgeon hands could preform such wonders on my body."

"I never thought I'd have such a wonderful woman like you to do such things like that with," Law said. He continued placing kisses on her neck, slowly working his way up to her ear where he licked slowly while his hands glided up and down her bare legs. "But there is one thing I don't understand."

"And what's that?" Neo asked, tilting her head for him.

"How you always become so sensual when taking a bath or shower," Law said, running his hands under her towel.

Neo groaned. Her head rolled back to his shoulder. "Who cares why it happens? I just like, really like, where it leads us." She turned her head towards him so he could capture her lips with his.

"I do as well. By the way, we're stopping in a few hours," Law said through their kissing.

"Why?" Neo asked.

"Straw Hat spotted a resort island on one of Nami's maps. He's set on going there now," Law said. He retracted his hands from under her towel and reached for it where she had it tucked in. He pulled it loose then pushed it away from her body before cupping her stomach, their child, in his hands. "So we're stopping for a while."

"Hm, okay," Neo said. She broke away from him, got up on her knees before wrapping her arms around his neck and diving her tongue into his mouth while he tossed her towel to the floor.

…

"You're not coming?" Neo asked once they had finally pulled themselves away from each other and got dressed. Turning to Law, she pulled her hair from his hoodie she was wearing.

"No," Law said, pulling his shirt down over his torso. "I have some things I need to take care of while the sub's docked. I'll join you later."

"Oh, okay then," Neo said, clearly not happy that Law was staying behind on the sub.

"I won't be long," Law said, pecking her lips. "Besides, you know Straw Hat won't leave you alone until you go play with him for a while."

"I guess you're correct," Neo said, fiddling with Law's shirttail while stepping closer to him. "I'm still not happy about it though. And I'm not happy about having to wear my sandals either." She shot a glare to her sandals that were sitting in the closet.

"Sorry, my love, but you have to wear them at this resort because of glass," Law said, pressing his lips to her forehead. "And we'll have plenty of time together later. And I'll give you a foot massage to relax your feet. Deal?"

"Deal," Neo said. "Plus a bath together."

"All right." Law chuckled. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards the door. "Come on, I'll walk you to the deck."

The walk to the deck was a quiet one since just about everyone had already left the sub. A few, like always, were still lingering around to keep an eye on things while others were off having fun but would switch out when others came back.

Neo's eyebrows perched up the closer the go to the door. "Hm?"

"What is it?" Law asked.

"I sense some Elementals," Neo said. "I bet Topaz went to talk to them. She's not near the sub."

"She probably did," Law said. "They'll probably want to meet with you."

"Probably," Neo said with a light frown appearing on her lips. "I hope they don't interrupt our little vacation here."

"You know they won't," Law said just as they stepped out into the hot sunlight. "Even if they do, you can easily order them to leave us alone."

"True." Neo nodded.

"Neo!" Luffy and Chopper called from below. "Come on! Let's go to the amusement park!"

"All right," Neo called, glancing down at the docks where the two were waiting with Nami, Robin, Sanji, and Penguin. "I'm coming."

"Call if you need me," Law said.

"I will," Neo said. She tilted her lips up to him, got her peck before summoning a wind crystal and flying herself down to the dock. "So what are we going to do first?"

"We're going to the biggest ride they have!" Luffy shouted.

"Oh no we're not!" Sanji, Chopper, and Penguin yelled. "Neo's not getting on any dangerous rides! It's not safe for her or the baby!"

"It'll be fine!" Luffy smiled. "Her crystals are protecting the baby after all!"  
"We don't care!" Sanji, Chopper, and Penguin shouted. "They're not riding anything we deem too dangerous!"

"It would be best to not push our luck with Neo and the baby," Robin said. "Despite the fact her crystals protect her baby and her body is different than ours, she and the baby are still at risk for damage. We need to be careful and protect them both. You know Red Haired wouldn't allow her to go on rides either."

"That's right!" Luffy said. "We have to protect them both!"

"There will be some rides safe enough for Neo to ride on," Chopper said. "We can ride on those with her."

"Great!" Luffy nodded. "Let's get going then."

Law sighed heavily, wondering if this was a good idea or not while watching the display on the deck before the small group finally headed off towards the amusement park. His eyes wondered over the island. He could easily see that the amusement park took up the majority of the space on the island. It was almost the entire island itself. To his right he could see several buildings clustered, that's where he was heading, and to his left was a large mountain where he knew Bepo was probably already at. His eyes wondered back to the buildings. He needed to get their clothes packed and check in soon. So he wondered back into the sub and all the way to their room. As quick as he could, he went through both their clothes and shoved them into two suitcases then headed back out of the sub. Following Nami's instructions, he heading towards the Sunrise Spa and Hotel to check in. He was a bit surprised to find how outdoors like the lobby was. There were vines and tropical flowers everywhere coupled with the smell of sunscreen and perfume. He knew Neo would really like it here.

"Hello, sir," the woman behind the counter greeted him with a warm smile. He couldn't help but notice her brown eyes ran helplessly over his features and locked onto his partly exposed chest. "How may I help you?"

It took all Law had not to roll his eyes at this woman's inability to keep her thoughts concealed from him. "I'm here to check in. Under the name Trafalgar Law."

"Trafalgar Law," the woman said as her eyes ran over the book in front of her. The shining light she had in her eyes instantly went out when she saw he was booked in the honeymoon suite. "Oh, yes, you're right here. You're in the honeymoon suite for the week. That'll be a sixty thousand berries." She reached around and grabbed the key off it's peg then held it out to him, trying to remain friendly despite her disappointment in him being married. It brought a smile to his face that he busted her lust filled bubble. "You're really lucky, Mr. Trafalgar."

"Why's that?" Law passed her his money then took the key from her.

"Some of our rooms have just been remodeled and redecorated. The honeymoon suite got a complete make over," she said. "This is the first time it's been rented out since the renovations have been completed."

"Great," Law said despite really being unsure of what to say in this moment. He really didn't care one way or the other. It was just a temperate room they were staying in.

"Your room is just right down that hall. Take a left and it's the last door on the right," the woman said as she pointed to the hall on her right. "You can't miss it."

"Thanks," Law mumbled before heading towards the hall. He followed her directions and found the room within just a minute. Immediately, he opened the door and stepped into a room full of heart shaped objects. He sighed. "Neo, I'll only do this for you."

…

"Wow!" Luffy and Chopper gasped as their eyes wondered up the largest roller coaster in the park. "It's so huge!"

"There's so much here," Sanji said, his eyes wondering all over the colorful attractions and rides before his eyes landed on some beautiful women. "And all the ladies are just so lovely!"

"No, kidding," Penguin said, his eyes landing on the same group of women that the Straw Hat cook saw. "They're so beautiful."

"Beautiful or not," Neo said, pouting. "You two better not run off on me. You said you were going to stay with me for a while."

"Of course we are, Neo," Penguin said.

"We're staying right by your side," Sanji said.

"You're such good boys," Neo cooed. She pulled the men closer to her, noticing that Sanji didn't smell like smoke as much as he usually does. "You cleaned up."

"Of course I did," Sanji said, nuzzling against her nose. "I want to make sure I don't harm you or your baby."

"You're such a doll!" Neo squealed. "I love you guys so much!"

"And we love you too," they all said.

"Yeah! Now let's get going!" Luffy said. "I want to have fun!"

"So what ride shall we go on first?" Neo asked.

"What ride would you like to go on?" Chopper asked.

"I don't know. They all look so inviting," Neo said. Her eyes locked onto the tallest roller coaster. She watched it, as it pulled up a big hill then plummeted almost straight down before going into several spins and twists. "Well, not all look inviting."

"Those types of rides you're staying off of anyway," Chopper said.

"Well, how about we start off with the Merry Go Round?" Penguin offered.

"Sure," Luffy said. "I like the Merry Go Round. The name reminds me of Merry."

"Me too," Chopper said. "I miss that ship."

"Let's go!" Luffy grabbed Neo's hand took off with her.

"I'm coming too!" Chopper said, following after the two.

"Hey! Take it easy, Luffy!" Sanji called as he and Penguin ran after the two. "She doesn't need to be jerked around like that!"

"Straw Hat!" Penguin growled.

Frustrated, Nami sighed. "I feel like we're babysitting."

"With a captain like Luffy, we often are," Robin said before walking forward. "Come. It looks like fun."

"I guess it does," Nami said. She followed after Robin and climbed onto one of the glittering horses.

"Yeah!" Luffy and Chopper cheered as their ride started.

"This is so relaxing," Neo said. She closed her eyes when a cool breeze blew through the island. She reopened her eyes when she realized the wind was being manipulated by an Elemental. "Huh?"

"What is it, Neo?" Robin asked before sensing the Elemental herself.

"An Elemental?" Sanji asked when all of their eyes landed on a light blue haired Elemental standing near the ride.

The Elemental waited patiently for the ride to end. And once it did, the pirate group got off the ride and walked over to him. Immediately, he bowed at his hips. "Princess."

Neo sighed. She was never going to get use to people bowing to her no matter how much it happened. She couldn't help but glance around at the people who gave them curious looks. It made her shift uncomfortably until Sanji and Penguin stepped closer to her sides. She gave them each a smile of thanks and relaxed.

"Welcome to Sunrise Resort," he said, lifting up from his bow with a bright smile.

"Wow. He's cute," Nami said.

Robin nodded in agreement.

"Hey!" Sanji snapped.

"Was there something you needed?" Neo asked, elbowing Sanji on the arm.

"I was just introducing myself. My name is Eden," he said. "You're sister, Topaz, informed me of your stop here. There are over two hundred Elementals on this island."

"That many?" Chopper said, running his eyes over the island's flora. "No wonder this place is so lush."

"Indeed," Eden said. "We care for this island a lot. We also use a lot of natural remedies in our spas."

"That would explain why this place is so famous," Robin said.

"No kidding," Nami said.

"So you're living here just fine with the humans and everything that's happened with our people being revealed?" Neo asked. She kneaded her eyebrows together while gliding her gaze over the people at the amusement park again, wondering if the happiness she saw was real or just a façade.

"We all are just fine," Eden said. "Most don't even care that we're different from them."

"That's a relief to hear," Neo said, bring her eyes back to Eden's. "I've been worried about our people since all of that stuff happened in Dressrosa."

"We were worried as well," Eden said. "But we can handle ourselves just fine. And we're also connected to Red Haired Shanks."

"Shanks stops here?!" Luffy asked.

"When he's in the area." Eden nodded. "Well, I won't keep you. I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that we're here for you and your crews if you need anything. I'm a manager at the Sunrise Spa and Hotel. You can have any employ call me at any point in time. I always carry around a transponder snail."

"Thanks a lot," Neo said.

"Others will probably want to come see you as well," Eden said. "Some are excited to meet a royal."

"I figured that," Neo said.

"Well, I'll get going now," Eden said before walking off. "Have fun at the resort."

"Well, he was very nice," Nami said.

"Sure he was," Sanji grumbled.

"Yeah. Let's get back to the rides now," Luffy said.

"Yeah!" Neo nodded with a smile.

The group then turned and headed off. They rode a few more rides, nibbled on snacks, and picking up a few Elemental children along the way who were completely in love with Neo's ability to control all of the elements, her wings, and her solar crystal, before Luffy started complaining he was hungry. He said, "Let's get something to eat!"

"Yeah!" the Elemental children cheered.

"My mama owns one of the restaurants here," an Earth Elemental said, pointing to a nearby restaurant. Instantly, they all noticed the smell of barbecue coming from the building she was pointing at. The spices of the barbecue sauce made them all hungry.

"Yummy! Smells so good!" Luffy said, drool running down his chin. Within one split second, the captain was standing over by the door of the restaurant, a trail of smoke floating away in his wake. "Hey! Let's eat here!"

"He's so impatient," Penguin said.

"It's a wonder he didn't spot this place before hand," Sanji said.

"We might as well get something to eat," Robin said.

"Yeah." Neo nodded, rubbing her stomach. "Baby's hungry too."

"Let's go then," Nami said.

A rush of cool air washed over the pirates' warm skin when they entered into the building. Before they could get a good look at the place, a tall, red haired woman came rushing over to them. With a bow, she said, "Princess! It's such an honor to meet you! Forgive the mess and the noise the restaurant in is! If I had known you were coming to eat here, I would have cleaned up and cleared everyone out!"

Neo chuckled nervously. "It's fine. There's no need to get so formal and apologetic."

"I'm sorry!" The woman's face flushed.

"Uh, just relax," Neo said with a warm smile. "I'm really not any different than you."

"Mama! Mama!" the little girl said. "We've been playing with the princess! She's wonderful!"

"Maya! You and your friends really shouldn't bother the princess!" the woman said. "Go on! You all get out of here!"

"Aw!" the girl and her friends protested as the mother shooed them all back outside.

"I'm so sorry they bothered you," the woman said, bowing again.

"They weren't any bother," Neo said, getting more and more uncomfortable with the looks she was receiving from the other guests.

"Great," a customer said, glaring at the pirates. "It's _her_."

"She's the one married to the former Warlord, Trafalgar Law," another customer said.

"That's her? She's just a child. How can she have control over all the elements?"

"It's true. And she's a royal of her people."

"She must be very powerful then to control so many people."

"I don't think she is. Rumor is she doesn't live with her people and never has."

"But it's clear her people still respect her. That other woman is also an Elemental."

"They should be destroyed. They're more dangerous than pirates with Devil Fruits."

"I agree."

"I don't. They're not that different from us."

"Shut up! What do you know?! Haven't you heard the damage she did in Dressrosa?!"

"That wasn't her fault. She was being controlled by a stone."

Neo sighed.

"Neo?" Penguin asked.

"I'm all right," Neo said. "This is normal after all."

Penguin nodded but still stepped closer to her. He shot a disapproving look at the customers talking bad about her before a couple other Elemental men, one earth and one water, walked over to the people who were saying negative things about their princess and people.

"If you have finished your meal, you're free to leave," the earth Elemental said.

"We won't have you bad mouthing our princess," the water Elemental said. The customers shifted uncomfortable and turned back to their meals while a couple quickly paid for their meal and left.

"Don't worry, Princess," the woman said. "They won't bother you again. Shall we seat you now? Or are you waiting for anyone else? I know you're here with both your crew and the Straw Hats."

"Looks like Topaz has been busy," Nami said.

"No, it's just us," Neo said. "I'm not really sure where the rest of our crews are at the moment. I'm sure they're eating else where."

"Then, please, follow me," she said. She then led them over to a corner booth that was surrounded by colorful flowers. It would easily shield them from the majority of the other customers. "My name is Crystal. Feel free to ask for anything you like. And you're meals are on the house."

"What?!" Luffy shrieked with a smile. "That's so awesome!"

"That's not necessary," Neo said, sitting down as Sanji pulled out a chair for her. She watched as the two Elementals walked over to them and stood at attention near their booth. "And we don't need to be guarded."

"Of course it is," Crystal said. "We wouldn't be good hosts if we didn't take care of our princess and her crews." She nodded to the two men. "And they're only going to make sure you're not bothered by anyone else."

"You're very kind," Robin said.

"Such service," Nami said.

"All right then," Neo said, still feeling uncomfortable with all of this. "If you feel it is necessary, I won't stop you."

"Thank you, Princess!" Crystal smiled. She pulled out a pencil and a small notebook just as the pirates picked up their menus from the table. "Now what shall I get you all to drink?"

…

"That was so yummy!" Luffy cried as they left the restaurant. "I ate so much meat!"

"Yes, it was," Robin said.

"It was almost as good as Neo's cooking," Penguin said.

"You." Neo gave her brother a shove.

Penguin smiled. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he kissed her temple. "I'll always love your food more than anyone else's."

"That was some first class food," Sanji said, looking at several pieces of paper he was currently holding before pocketing them. "I can't believe they willingly gave me so many of their recipes. This is great. I can't wait to try them out later."

"So what shall we do now?" Chopper asked, looking up at the sky. "We have a few hours before the sun starts to set."

"That's just enough time to get Neo to the shops," Nami said with Robin nodding in agreement.

"Shops?" Neo asked.

"That's correct," Nami said, looping her arm through Neo's. "We're taking you shopping. You need appropriate clothing for this island."

"Appropriate clothing?" Neo dropped her eyes down to Law's shirt. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Nothing's wrong with it, Neo," Robin said. "We're just going to get you a new dress and a proper swimming suit for when visiting the pool."

"Oh, I guess so," Neo said thoughtfully. "Law really won't like me wearing my bikini to the pool. And it's too warm, even for me, to swim in full clothing."

"Aw," Luffy whined, slumping his shoulders. "That means you're not going to ride with us anymore."

"I'm sorry, Luffy," Neo said.

"At least you can go on some of the more wild rides," Penguin said in hopes Luffy wouldn't get the idea to run off with Neo again.

"He's correct," Neo said. "We'll meet up with you again later. I don't want you missing out on these rides because I can't ride them. You go on and have fun."

"Well, all right then," Luffy said. He looked down at Chopper. "What shall we ride first?"  
"I want to go on the biggest ride here," Chopper said before smiling at Neo. "We'll see you later."

"Have fun, guys." Neo waved them off.

"So you all have successfully pulled it off," Sanji said.

"Pulled what off?" Neo asked.

"Nothing," Sanji said with a smile as he walked off. "I'm going to go with Luffy and Chopper to make sure they don't damage anything."

"Hold on a second," Nami said, following after him. "How did you know we were up to something?"

"It was easy," Sanji said. He tossed a look over to Neo, she was being distracted by Robin and Penguin. "I noticed you and Robin were often whispering to each other, would send secret looks to Penguin, but what really sealed the deal was when you flopped your map down on the table. You never bring your maps out like that unless we're purposefully looking for a certain island."

"Oh," Nami said.

"And since we were heading to a resort island, I figured it had something to do with Neo and Law's lack of a honeymoon," Sanji said.

"I don't know why we bother trying to hide things from you," Nami said. "You always figure it out so easily."

"You better get on back to your job." Sanji nodded towards Neo. "And be sure to get her a really cute swimming suit."

"You jerk!" Nami snapped. "Tra's going to cut you up for that!"

"No, he won't!" Sanji sang. "Neo's my sweet little fairy! He won't cut me up because she loves me so much!"

"Then I'll cut you up!" Nami said as the cook danced away from them. Grumbling, she wondered back over to the group that remained.

"What was that about?" Neo asked.

"Nothing," Nami said. "It was just Sanji being Sanji."

"Let's go then," Robin said.

"You coming?" Neo asked Penguin.

"I think so," Penguin said, looking towards the direction Luffy and Chopper went off in. "I think it's the safer route."

Neo nodded in understanding. Then the group was off, making their way through the laughing people and the sounds of the rides coupled with all the smells of the park. Some of the smell made Neo's stomach turn. So much so she had to make a mad dash into the nearest bathroom before she could release everything in her stomach on the ground. Robin assisted her, rubbing her back soothingly until she had nothing left to give. "Thanks. I'm sorry. Those smells were just too much."

"There's nothing to apologize for," Robin said while patiently waiting for Neo to wash her hands.

"Yes, Law," Neo said. "I'm fine now. We're going shopping. Okay, I'll see you later then."

"He's worried about you," Robin said.

"He always is," Neo said as the two left the bathroom. "Even when he knows there's nothing to worry about." She paused. "He's really going to be worried when I go into labor. The poor baby. He'll not only have to experience the pain with me, he'll also have all of his worrying over me."

"He'll be fine," Robin said.

"Yeah." Neo nodded.

"Feel better now?" Penguin asked once the women rejoined him and Nami.

"I am." Neo nodded again.

"Good because we're really close to the shops," Nami said, pointing down the sidewalk. "It's just around that corner."

"Great," Neo said. She followed along quietly with Penguin by her side as Nami chatted with Robin on the type of swimsuit she should get.

"Hey," Nami exclaimed upon entering the store. "They have an entire maternity section here."

"Not surprising considering how busy this place is," Robin said. "They must get a lot of visitors from all over the place."

"And they're so pretty," Penguin said, his eyes locking onto a group of four women in color bikinis. "I love it here."

Neo rolled her eyes and poked him in the ribs. "Easy, Penguin. I'll turn my water crystals on you." She paused for a second then added, "Speaking of which, I wonder how Shachi and the rest of the guys are doing."

"I'm sure they're fine," Nami said. "They're probably just passed out somewhere from their nosebleeds or right hooks giving my irritated husbands or boyfriends."

Neo hummed while a picture of her crew that Nami created with her words paraded through her mind. "I should have told them to check in occasionally. All well. They know to behave themselves."

"They'll be fine," Nami said, pointing at Penguin. "But I'm not so sure about him."

Neo turned her eyes to Penguin. The man was blushing heavily and drooling with a little blood running down his upper lip as he watched the curtain of a changing room sway from the woman inside brushing up against it. She shook her head. Summoning a water crystal, she turned it as cold as possible and splashed him in the face. "Better?"

"Yes," Penguin said, brushing away the water with his sleeve. "Thanks. I needed that."

Neo giggled. Slipping her arm back into his, she pulled Penguin away from the women before he could fall into a trance again. They then set to work going through all of the swimming suits in the maternity section before having Neo try on a few.

"Are you two sure about this?" Neo asked while modeling the cobalt blue, halter top, hanky hemline swimming suit she was in. The mesh skirt was just tighten enough to show people that she was pregnant but also hid her swollen belly if she turned the correct way. "Law doesn't want me in a bikini around other men outside of our crews."

"It's not a bikini, Neo. It's a tankini," Nami said, eyeing the suit with a critical eye. "So he can't object to this piece at all. You're covered a lot more than in a bikini."

"I guess so," Neo said. "But are you sure this is the one I should get?"

"I think it looks great on you," a man said.

Neo whipped her eyes to the intrusive voice, a tall man with shaggy brown hair wearing sunglasses over his tanned face. She flinched, instantly noticing the man was running his eyes over her body when he lifted up his sunglasses, revealing his brown eyes. She grabbed onto Penguin's arm when she felt him get closer to her. "That's nice of you to say."

"It really goes with your blue hair," the man said. "You're really beautiful."

"Uh, thanks," Neo said. "Would you please go away now? I'd like to finish shopping."

"Calm down, babe," he said, taking a couple steps closer. "The name's Brendon."

"Hold up there, pal," Nami said as she stepped in front of the guy when she saw Neo start to tremble. Robin calmly crossed her arms over her chest, ready to attack if needed. Both women knew if Neo got too upset Law would warp to her immediately and a blood bath would ensue. That would put a real damper on their honeymoon and they were not going to let that happen. "Neo's not available for creeps like you."

"And why is that?" Brendon asked, his eyes growing with lust for the blue haired pirate. "No way she can be with anyone. She's too hot for that, a little young looking, but that's just fine with me. I like them young."

Neo shivered, instantly not liking his words or what he was possibly hinting at.

"She is. She's really _married_ ," Penguin hissed. "So put your lust filled eyes back into that head of yours."

The man scoffed. His eyes dropped down to the ring on Neo's finger. "I don't believe it. A guy like _you_ snagged a hottie like her?"

"No," Penguin said. "I'm her _brother_. Her _very, very_ protective _brother_ who won't hesitate to kick your butt to the moon if you don't leave her alone."

"You don't look all that strong to me," Brendon said, sizing Penguin up. Turning his eyes to Neo, he smiled, showing off his perfect smile and white teeth that any normal girl would fall for. But Neo didn't. And not because of her loyalty to Law, she could feel that this guy was bad news all around. "You're just a weakling."

Neo snapped. Insulting someone she loved was taboo. "Don't you dare call him a weakling! He is anything but! He and everyone else on my crew are strong!"

"Your crew?" Brendon asked. "So you're pirates?"

"That's correct," Neo said, firmly. "We're the Heart Pirates and Straw Hat pirates."

"Oh, I think I've heard of you guys before," Brendon said. "You all supposedly took down some big shot Warlord."

"Doflamingo," Neo said. "And we didn't _supposedly_ take him down. We _did_ take him down." She summoned her crystals, threatening the man to leave with their flickering elements. "Now, you're going to leave right this second on your own accord or I'll personally remove you."

Brendon opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. They all looked up when they sensed multiple Elementals walking over to them.

"Is everything all right here?" a wind Elemental asked.

"Yes," Neo said, taking on her royal tone. "This _man_ was just leaving. Will you please escort him out of the building?"

"Of course, Princess," the wind Elemental said. He jerked his head towards the exit with a stern look that didn't leave room for arguing.

"Well," Brendon said. He lowered his sunglasses over his eyes, but not quick enough to hide his disappointment and anger. "I'll see you later then. I have to go see my brother anyway."

"We'll keep an eye on him," the wind Elemental said before he and the others followed after Brendon.

"Thank you," Neo said. The Elemental nodded before disappearing with the others.

"You have bodyguards everywhere now," Nami said.

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "While it's nice they care, I do wish they wouldn't treat me so much like a royal." She smiled. "But I know it's my heritage. I won't run from it." She turned back to the mirror and looked at herself with curiosity. She was starting to like how she looked in this swimming suit. She liked how it showed off her pregnancy while at the same time giving her the ability to hide it. "Do you think this one will do? It's nice."

"I think it looks fabulous on you," Nami said.

"It's definitely the one," Robin said in an agreement.

"I agree whole heartedly," Penguin said.

"Then this one it shall be," Neo said. She stepped back into the changing room to put her clothes back on. After that she paid for her purchase and the three women and one man left that shop. Their eyes wondered over the rest of the shops around them while they walked down the semi crowded sidewalks, keeping Neo between them so she didn't get touched. "So where to now?"

"Hey! That shop looks like it has some really cute dresses in it!" Nami said, pointing at a shop with three dress clad mannequins in the window display. "We should really stop in there and get you a black dress!"

"A black dress?" Neo asked. "What for?"  
"Women often use little black dresses to seduce a man," Robin said.

"But I can do that to Law without one," Neo said as clueless and innocent as ever.

"You're so cute," Nami said, linking her arm with her blue haired friend. "But you're getting one anyway. Trust us. Tra will love to see you in one."

"He sure would," Penguin agreed.

"Well, if you say so," Neo said.

"We do." Nami nodded. She then pulled Neo into the store with Robin and Penguin following behind calmly with coconspirator smiles. "Now, it's essential that the black dress be as plan as possible. It has to fit you snuggly like it was made for your specific body."

"But my body is pregnant," Neo said, eyeing the dresses hanging on a near by rack. "How's that going to work? I'll go back to normal size after having our baby."  
"It'll be just fine," Nami said, not taking her eyes off the dresses. "Topaz can tighten it up later after you have your baby so the dress won't go to waste. You can wear it later to tease Tra with."

"I guess that will work," Neo said. "Topaz is really good with a needle. The alterations she's done, you can't even tell they've been altered."

"That's the spirit," Nami said. She released her hold on Neo and grabbed a strapless dress off the rack. "Here, try this one on first."

"Okay," Neo said. She took the dress and wondered over to the changing rooms. Once she had the dress on she stepped out, revealing it to the pirates. "I don't think I like this one. I feel like it's going to fall off."

"Yeah." Nami nodded. "I can understand that. You're not use to wearing clothes that have no sleeves what so ever. Maybe this one shoulder dress would be better."

Neo took the dress and disappeared for a few minutes before once again coming back out with the new dress on. "It's better."

"But the ruffles along the neck line disappear within the black fabric," Robin said.

"True, it's pointless to have them on there," Nami said.

"Probably done by a woman who likes ruffles," Penguin said. "I wonder why it was done in the first place if you can't even seen the ruffles."

"It's called style, Penguin," Nami said, tugging on the dress Neo was wearing. "All well. Next dress."

"It's called pointless," Penguin said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Neo then tried on ten more dresses before finally falling for the one she was currently wearing. It was low cut, loose on her stomach, but hugged her chest just right, and had just one thin shoulder strap going over her right shoulder. She ran her hands over her sides while turning this way and that way to examine how it looked on her. "This feels so great."

"You look so beautiful in that," Nami gasped.

"Really?" Neo asked, turning on her feet to get the best view she could in the mirror.

"You do," Robin agreed. "Tra is going to be blow away when he sees you."

"It's kind of expensive thought," Neo said, looking at the price tag. "Thirteen hundred for a dress? No way Law would approve of the price."

"The price doesn't matter when it makes you feel so good," Nami said, adjusting the dress on Neo a bit. "Besides, it's good to spoil yourself once in a while. And you have a bad habit of not doing that. Just consider this a long over do self gift."

"I still don't know," Neo said.

"But you love the dress," Robin said.

"I do," Neo said.

"Then don't worry about it," Nami said. "Tra won't mind you spending this much just once. And it's not like you're just going to throw the dress away after one wear. You'll wear it multiple times on special occasions."

"They're correct, Neo," Penguin said. "Go ahead and get it. The captain won't mind at all."

"I guess that's true," Neo said. "We don't have very many special occasions as it is. It would be nice to dress up for Law once in a while. I don't do that much either since he raised me as a tomboy."

"He really needs to enforce more girly clothes on you," Nami growled. "That man."

Neo giggled lightly, her bells chimed softly before fading away. "He really didn't have much choice. I was the only girl on the sub for several months before Topaz arrived. Then she's not much of a girly girl either. Neither is Ikkaku for that matter. I guess it just comes with living with so many guys and being pirates."

"I guess that's true," Nami said. "You didn't have much chance of being a girl while being raised by pirates. So you're getting the dress?"

"Yes." Neo nodded. "I'll get it for Law."

"That's our girl!" Nami said.

"Let's pay for this then get something to eat," Neo said, stepping back into the changing room. "I'm starving now."

After stepped back out of the dressing room with her own clothes on, Neo lead the group over to the checkout counter. She paid for her dress and they left the cool store and stepped back out into the heat. Wondering back towards the food booths, they chatted about random topics. The chatter continued through their meal and until Law finally appeared. Neo's eyes lit up when she saw her lover. "Law! You're finally here!"

Law nodded calmly. He walked over to Neo, pecked her lips when she stood up, and then sat down in her chair, propping his sword up against the table. His hand automatically went to her thigh when she sat down on him.

"I missed you." Neo pecked his cheek a couple times. "Don't wonder away from again."

"I won't," Law said, feeling her desire to be near him rising. "I'm yours for the rest of the time we're here. How was your shopping? I felt you get upset a couple times."

"I did. We had an issue with a guy trying to hit on me. But it was all taken care of. And shopping was good," Neo said, pecking his lips. "I brought me a couple things. I think you'll like them."

"Well, I can't wait to see them," Law said, his lips curling into a smile.

"What a day!" Nami said, stretching out before looking up at the now star spotted sky. "I didn't realize it was getting so late."

"Looks like Neo thinks it's about bedtime," Penguin said, watching Neo's sleepy expression grow.

"Mhmm," Neo hummed. She snuggled into Law's chest, pressing her eyes into his neck. "Baby's sleepy too."

"Well then, we should get you and our baby into bed then if you're that tired," Law said. "You have been playing around for hours."

"Mhmm." Neo sighed. "You're going to bed with us too."

"I am," Law said. Slipping his arms around her back and knees, he stood up. "Penguin, will you grab her bags and my sword?"  
"You got it, Captain," Penguin said. He grabbed what he was told then followed after his captains. "See you ladies later."

"Later," Nami said with a wave.

…

Neo continued to snuggle up against Law as he carried her across the island. Feeling slightly annoyed at how long it was taking to get back to the sub, she opened her eyes and looked around, instantly noticing they weren't anywhere near the docks. "Where are we? Where's the sub?"

"We're not going to the sub," Law said. He chuckled when Neo became slightly anxious and confused. He pecked her lips when she sat up straighter in his arms. "Relax, my love. You're fine. I'm just taking you to a surprise."

"Surprise?" Neo asked. "What is it?"  
"You'll have to wait and see," Law said.

"Oh, all right," Neo said, settling back down into his arms. Curiously, she watched the scenery around them, trying to figure out what was going on. Her curiosity only grew when they entered into a hotel and wondered down the halls. She tilted her head when Law stopped in front of a door with a heart shape sign with the words _Honeymoon Suite_ on it. "Honeymoon Suite?"

"That's correct." Law sat her back down on her feet. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the key, unlocked, and opened the door. He waited for Neo to enter, but when it was clear that she wasn't going to move, he gave her a little push to guide her into the room. He remained quiet while she looked around the room.

"This is," Neo said. Her eyes were unable to stop running over all of the heart shaped objects. The bed was heart shaped, sitting in the middle of the back wall, the lamp shapes, the light switches, the curtains, and just about everything else had heart shapes on it. "I don't understand."

"We're having our honeymoon," Law said.

"What?" Neo whipped her eyes to Law then to Penguin when she noticed the bright smile on her brother's face. "Wait…you mean that you and…"

"That's correct," Penguin said. "Nami, Robin, the captain, and I were all in on this."

"It was planned," Neo said, turning her eyes back to Law. "This is why you didn't come with me earlier."

Law nodded. "I wanted it to be a surprise. So I sent you off with the Straw Hats so I could pack for us and move into this room while you were busy."

"Is this…this must be so expensive," Neo said. "Can we really afford to-"

"Hush." Law placed his finger over her lips, silencing her. "It's fine. We can afford this. And you know I'd do anything for you. I want this for you. I want as much time with you as I can possibly get, especially with our baby coming."

"Oh, Law," Neo said. Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes before slowly leaking out. "You're just so wonderful. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve you and I'm nothing but a bother to you."

Law chuckled, brushing away her tears as he cupped her face. "You do deserve me. Don't ever doubt that. And you're never a bother. You never have been and you never will be."

"I love you so much," Neo said.

"And I love you just as much," Law said before pressing his lips to hers.

…

Penguin smiled. Watching his two captains quietly until he got the feeling he should leave. This was set in stone when Neo wrapped her arms around Law's neck while the captain ran his hands down her sides. So he placed Neo's bags on the floor and silently excused himself, closing the door behind him. "Congratulations you two. I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon."

He then shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away.

…

Neo hummed into their kiss. Her hands slid down his chest and under his shirt, feeling every curve of his muscles before dropping her touch lower. She smiled when Law groaned in pleasure at her tender touch of his most sensitive areas.

"We're breaking in this new bed right now," Law mumbled against her lips.

"New bed?" Neo questioned.

"The room was remodeled," Law said, his hands fumbling around to undo her jeans like he was inexperienced in sexual intimacies.

"That's nice," Neo said, successfully pulling his own jeans down before he even got her button undone. She giggled at him. "You're slow today."

Law, still not releasing her lips fully, growled at her. He created a Room and warped them both onto the bed. Their clothes remained where they were standing, fallen on the floor in careless piles.

Neo growled at him this time. "That's cheating."

"You're the one complaining I was too slow. So I just sped things up a bit," Law said before pressing his teeth onto the soft spot of her neck.

Neo arched into Law when he teasingly pressed himself against her. She raked her fingers in his hair while he started placing kisses down her skin until he reached her stomach. Her heart raced at the loving kisses he was placing her stomach, at the loving kisses he was giving their baby through her.

"Hello, baby," Law murmured softly through his kisses. "You just relax in there. I'm going to take very good care of your mommy. She won't get stressed out at all with me right here no matter how wild we might get."

Neo's heart fluttered wildly. No matter how _wild_ they got with their intimacy, there was always an air of gentleness to it. Then, without warning, a strange question crossed her mind. While Law continued placing kissing on her swelling stomach, she propped up on her elbows. "Hey, Law?"  
"Hm?"

"When our baby get's old enough, will he be able to see us having sex?" Neo asked.

Law paused. Lifting up from her, he lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"  
"I mean, you stick your manhood into me," Neo said. "And it's close to my womb. That's where our baby is. Will our baby be able to see you inside of me?"

"No, love," Law said, smiling at her innocence. "Our baby won't be able to see anything. Babies don't usually open their eyes inside of a mother's womb."

"Oh," Neo said. "I see. I was worried a bit on how we were going to explain it to our baby what sex is."

Law chuckled. Pushing up on his hands, he recaptured her lips and body while pushing her back down against the pillows.

…

 **Apple Bloom: A lot will be different while some stuff will remain the same. One particular thing will be extremely new, but I think everyone will enjoy what I have planned for that part.**


	4. Vacation P4

Vacation

Part Four

Law woke to the familiar pressure of Neo's body on his. Only this time it was a bit different. She was constantly shifting her position in her sleep, trying to get more comfortable on him with her growing belly. She was going into her fourth month now. She still wasn't very big yet, but her stomach was still growing each day. He knew it wouldn't be much longer before she would, or had to, stop lying on top of him after their sexual intimacies. And he knew she wasn't going to like that one bit. He still never could figure out why she always laid on top of him afterwards. She just did. Even after their first time, he woke up to find her on his stomach. He didn't mind it all one bit. She didn't weight much so it never caused him any pain or discomfort.

Except for now. He easily felt her discomfort coming from their bond. It was still early so he didn't want her to wake up just yet. They had stayed up a lot later than they usually did last night. He wanted her well rested before they started their honeymoon officially. Though he figured it actually started last night, but still she needed to rest now so they could have fun later. So he placed his hands on her body, one on her head while placing the other on her back. Carefully he rolled them onto their sides, making sure to put her on her right side. She whimpered in protest from being removed from laying on him but settled back down when her body realized she was more comfortable this way.

Law then propped up on his elbow, resting his head on his hand while he watched her sleep as he debated on what they should do during their time here. It was about an hour and a half later when he started to feel her waking up from her slumber. He waited patiently.

Soon her eyelashes flittered open. She blinked the blurriness out of her eyes before lifting her gaze to Law. She said, "I'm really going to hate not being able to lay on you."

"I know," Law said, brushing the back of his fingers over her arm. "Just remember it's only for a few months."

"It'll be more than a few months since I have to work to get back down to my normal size," Neo grumbled.

"Time will fly by faster than you think," Law said.

"It better," Neo said. She shifted closer to him, pressing her nose to his skin, taking in his comforting familiar scent. "You smell so good."

Law chuckled. "I smell like sex."

"Well, we just did that," Neo mumbled before licking his chest. "But I don't care. You still smell good."

Law chuckled again. He continued to watch Neo until she finally woke up completely.

"So, my lover, what exactly are we going to do here?" Neo asked. "What do you do on a honeymoon anyway?"

"Anything we want," Law said.

"So we can have sex again right now?" Neo asked.

"We could, but then we'd miss out on a lot of other stuff," Law said.

"I suppose that's true," Neo said. "So what do you have planned?"  
"What makes you think I have anything planned?" Law asked.

"Because it's you we're talking about," Neo said.

"Well, I don't really have much planned this time," Law said causing Neo to lift an eyebrow at him. "I did, however, think that we could just relax by the pool for a while and talk about what we would like to do while we're here. They have some brochures and schedules for different events here on the island."

"Oh, relaxing by the pool," Neo said. She trailed her finger over his chest, tracing his tattoo slowly. "Does that mean you'll rub me down with sunscreen?"

"If that's what you want," Law said.

"That sounds like it would be so very nice," Neo said. She slid her hand up around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss. "Though I'm not very happy about having other women looking at you with your shirt off."

"Well, I'm not happy at all when men look at you period," Law said, pecking her lips again.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about them," Neo said. "I'll make sure to make it _very clear_ that I belong to you and I will _never ever_ stray away from you."

"And I shall do the same for you," Law said. "So you won't have to get jealous if women do stare at me."

"You're such a good boy," Neo mumbled against his lips before reclaiming them.

"We should get going then," Law said through their kisses. "We need to get breakfast before we head out."

"Uh huh," Neo said, pulling back from him with the intent to suggest showering together.

"I'm taking a shower alone," Law said before she could say what was on her mind.

"Hey!" Neo protested. "You said we could do whatever we wanted!"

"I know," Law said. "But you become far too sensual in the shower. If we take one together now, we'll never leave the room."

"And that's a bad thing?" Neo asked with a smirk.

"No, but we're here only for the week," Law said. "I want you to experience the island while we can."

"Oh, fine," Neo said with a pout. "But we _are_ taking a shower together after the pool."

"Yes, love. We can do that." Law pressed a kiss to her forehead before removing the covers from her and pressing a kiss to her stomach. "Good morning, baby."

"You can be so silly at times yourself," Neo said, running her fingers through his black hair.

"Only around you," Law said.

"I'm so luck," Neo said.

"I'm the lucky one to have you in my life," Law said kissing her again before climbing off the bed to take his shower.

"You're so sweet," Neo said. "Try not to take very long."

"Says the one who takes hours in the bath," Law said with smirk.

"Hey! I'm an Elemental! I'm naturally drawn to the elements!" Neo said, playfully glaring at him. "I'm supposed to take forever!"

"Lousy excuse," Law said.

"Oh! Go take your shower!" Neo said. She tossed a pillow at him, but he easily warped it back to her, making it land on top of her head. She jerked it off and stuck her tongue out at him. "Get in that shower you cheater!"

"I'm going," Law said before disappearing into the bathroom.

Neo shook her head. Rolling onto her back, she stretched out her tired body then waited patiently for him to get his shower done. Once he was finished, he opened the door to let her know. That was her cue to get out of bed. She did and entered the bathroom herself. Her eyes ran over the large bathroom. It wasn't as big as the one in her room back on Luminous, but it was still big enough to hold a shower, a large tub, and a hot tub. It was painfully easy to tell this room definitely had romance involved in the plans as this room was just as decorated with hearts as the bedroom. And she was going to make sure they used this room plenty of times before they left the resort.

She claimed another kiss from him before stepping into the shower. Getting excited to spend some romantic, quality time with Law, she did her best to not let the water entice her to linger under its warm wetness. And, somehow, she managed to get her shower done in a little under fifteen minutes.

"Fourteen and a half minutes," Law said, leaning back against the sink with his arms crossed and only his towel around his hips. "I'm impressed. I thought for sure you were going to take a least twenty minutes."

"Oh, hush!" Neo said, her cheeks flushing pink. She planted her hand on his shoulder and guided him out of the bathroom. "And you stay out of here for now."

"Why?" Law asked.

"My swimming suit is going to be a surprise," Neo said, grabbing the item she just spoke about, which was still laying where Penguin had left it and her dress. "I don't want you watching me put it on."

"It better not be a bikini," Law said, with a stern frown.

"Don't worry, my love," Neo said, walking back towards the bathroom. "It's not."

Law sighed. He got the feeling she wasn't exactly telling him the truth. But he let it go. He knew she never would flat out lie to him. He turned away from the bathroom just as she shut the door to get dressed himself. He pulled his black swimming trunks on then sat down on the bed to wait for her. While waiting his eyes drifted down to the Jolly Roger on his left leg. He wondered if he should get a different pair that didn't have their Jolly Roger on it. He didn't want to cause any unnecessary fights with other pirates. And he knew some were here. He hasn't seen them yet, but he knew they would run into some at some point. He didn't want anything to disrupt their honeymoon. Then, on the other hand, it didn't matter if they wore their Jolly Roger around. People knew their faces. He would just have to be careful to not get pulled into a fight with eager pirates. If that happened, he could have their crew set up a guard around them or, better yet, the Elementals. Their crew would be more than glad to take on a security detail, but he knew Neo would want them to have fun while they were here. The Elementals would also be more than glad to play security guards for her. They had already done it once yesterday. And they would do it if their princess asked them to. He nodded and it was settled.

"So what do you think?" Neo's voice then asked.

Law lifted his eyes to her. They widened slightly at the royal blue suit she was wearing. He walked over to her, running his eyes and hands over it to inspect it thoroughly, noticing it wasn't a one piece suit. "You look very beautiful in it."

"You're not upset that it's not a full body swimsuit?" Neo asked carefully.

"No, not really," Law said, kissing her forehead. "I trust your judgment completely. Besides, you're covered enough in this one. And I love how you can show off our baby and also hide our baby."

"I like that part too," Neo said, her eyes sparkling with delight. "I'm glad you like it. I also have another surprise for you. But I'm not exactly sure when I'll show it to you. I guess I can figure that out later when we decide on what we're going to do."

"If it makes you look as beautiful as this suit, then I can't wait to see it," Law said, gliding his hands over her hips to pull her into his body.

"Oh, we forgot about breakfast," Neo said. "We shouldn't have gotten dressed so quickly."

"That doesn't matter," Law said. "We can wear clothes over our swimming suits then take them off at the pool."

"Oh, right," Neo said. "Do we have enough sunscreen?"

"Yes." Law nodded. He walked over to their bags and started pulling out clothes for them to wear, the sunscreen, a couple towels, and a bag for them to put their clothes in so they wouldn't have to have them laying out everywhere. They put their clothes on, shoved the other items in the bag, and left their room. After reaching the dinning hall, that was half filled with people and tons of sunscreen and happy chatter floating in the air, they quickly gathered their choices for breakfast, ate, and they headed out for the pool with the brochures Law had mentioned before.

The sun was bright and very, very hot on their skin. It gave Neo a little concern about their crew and the Straw Hats. "I hope they're staying well hydrated in this heat."

"They'll be fine," Law said, pushing some chairs together for them. "They know how to handle the hot weather."

"Poor Bepo and Chopper must be miserable," Neo said, lifting her eyes to the mountain in the distance. "I bet Bepo will spend that majority of his time over on the cooler side of the mountain. Chopper will probably want to go there as well. We should go there too. We haven't been to snowy islands much."

"We will," Law said, sitting down to pull off his shirt. "If you'll stop worrying about the crews and sit down so we can talk. I need to put sunscreen on you anyway. I won't be happy if you get burnt."

"Okay, okay." Neo pulled her eyes from the mountain. She sat down on the chair beside him. "What are you going to lotion up first?" Her eyes looked at his chest then shifted over to a small group of women sitting under a red and white umbrella. Her lips curled down into a frown when she noticed they were clearly devouring him with their lust filled eyes. "See? You already have a fan club."

"Don't look at them," Law said, placing his finger on her chin to guide her eyes back to him. The second she locked eyes with him, he leaned over and kissed her deeply, making sure to drawl the kiss out to make his point very clear to anyone watching. "There. Now they know I'm yours."

Neo panted for air when he pulled away. When he spoke, she couldn't help but look over at the women. She smiled. Jealousy was clear in their eyes. And when she caught their gaze, they stood up and walked away. Turning back to Law, she brushed her nose to his. "You really are a good boy."

"Only for you," Law said. "Now remove your top layer so I can get you properly protected with the lotion."

Neo nodded and did as she was told. She made sure to show her pregnant belly off before folding up her clothes and placing them in their bag. She then sat down and waited for Law to start wiping the sunscreen on her body.

Law squirted the white lotion onto his palm. He placed a kiss to her shoulder before brushing the sunscreen on her skin. Once every inch of her exposed skin was covered, she took the sunscreen and lathered him up, getting more disappointed looks from single women as they walked by. When they both were ready for the bright sun, they sat back in their chairs. He had his arm around her waist, resting his hand on her thigh while she filtered through the brochures. She said, "Wow. They have a lot to do here. And a lot of this I haven't even seen before. Mini golf? What's that?"

"It's basically golf on a smaller scale," Law explained. "And the size of the course depends on where it is. Some places only have nine holes, some have eighteen, and some could have more than that. The more space you have the bigger your course will be or could be. And instead of hitting the ball hard, to cover a lot of distance, you only putt the ball, bouncing it off the wooden walls, over or through obstacles to get it closer to the hole at the end. And just like in regular golf the person with the fewer strokes wins the game."

"Sounds like fun," Neo said. "Can we go play it? Even just once?"

"Of course, love," Law said, squeezing her thigh. "We can do whatever you want."

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun," Neo said as she continued to run her eyes over the brochures. "We need to go to the theme park too."

"The theme park?" Law asked.

"Not to necessarily ride rides, but to check out some of the shows there," Neo said. She pointed at a picture on the brochure. "This one uses animals in their act. I want to check on the animals and see what all they do exactly and how they feel."

"When is it?" Law asked.

"It's at ten o'clock, one o'clock, four o'clock, and seven o'clock," Neo said. She looked up at the sun, gaging its position. "It's only about eight right now. We have plenty of time to swim then get dressed to go over there for the ten o'clock showing. And since we're going to be spending a lot of time outside, we can wait and take our shower later tonight. Is that all right?"

"Sounds fine to me," Law said. "And since we'll be in the park then we can get lunch there. Then how about we head over to the mini gulf course afterwards since it's also inside of the park?"  
"Yeah!" Neo nodded. Giddiness started to swell up inside of her, which passed to Law. "This is going to be so much fun! Let's get in the water for a while!" She dropped the brochures in their bag, grabbed Law's hand, and pulled him towards the pool. "Come on!"

"Slow down, love," Law said, chuckling. "The pool's not going anywhere. And let me get in first."

"Why?" Neo paused at the edge of the pool. "What about your Devil Fruit powers? I forgot about that."

"There's nothing to worry about since you're here to protect me." Law pecked her temple before climbing down the ladder. And just as he thought, Neo summoned her water crystal to help keep him above the water. He then held his hand up to her. She walked closer to the edge, stepping down on the first step of the ladder, she took his hand, and he helped her into his arms. He spun her around, letting her feet drag through the cool water. "See?"

"You're so sweet," Neo said, wrapping his arms around his neck. "You wanted to hold me."

"I did." Law nodded.

"You know, we really need a pool on the sub," Neo said.

"What?" Law smirked at her. "Why? You have the entire sea to swim in."

"I can't always go outside though," Neo said. She scooped a handful of water and poured it on his shoulder before trailing her fingers down his now damp skin. "And the Straw Hats are still with us. Franky could easily-"

"No," Law said flatly.

"Oh, but Law," Neo said, fluttering her eyelashes at him. She forced back her laughter when she felt him wavering on his decision due to her hold over him and her big beautiful electric blue eyes. "We have room for a pool."

"Oh? And where exactly were you planning on putting the pool, huh?" Law lifted an eyebrow at her.

"We could take out one of the walls in the training room and extent it into one of the storage rooms. That way the pool will be part of the training room," Neo said. "The crew can use it for training too."

"No," Law said.

"Aw, come on, Law," Neo said, tangling her fingertips into the tips of his hair that laid against his neck. She moved her hand up, threatening to work him into a trance so she could get what she waited. She then took off his hat, placed it on her own head, and went back to working his hair. "I think you really want to add a pool in. If you didn't, you would have tried and stopped me by now."

"I'm just giving you false security," Law said, his eyes fallen half closed. He grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand down to his face so he could kiss her palm. "Now it's over."

"Oh!" Neo sighed. "I didn't move quick enough!"

"No, you didn't," Law said. "You got a bit over confident too in thinking you could put me in a trance."

"I guess I did," Neo admitted. "I'll have to be more careful next time."

Law nodded. "Now, no more trying to get me to put you in a pool. It's not going to happen."

"Fine," Neo relented. "I'll just stick with what's on the island. I can always try later to get a pool added."

"Oh really?" Law asked.

"Yes, really," Neo said, her eyes taking on a mischievous glint. "Like when our baby is old enough to join me in using our cuteness to undo you."

"Don't you dare," Law said, feeling slightly worried.

"Don't worry, love," Neo said. She blew lightly in his ear, making him shiver. "You have plenty of time to try and come up with a defense against us."

"I'll get to work on that right away," Law said.

"Nope." Neo tapped his nose. "You're focusing on me right now. You can work on that later."

"Fine," Law said.

"Good boy." Neo shifted her body so she could wrap her legs around his waist. They stayed entangled up in each other hold for several minutes, brushing their noses together, stealing several kisses, Law brushing his hands over body-in some places that made her thankful no one could see-before Neo decided to get some actual swimming in. She swam for twenty minutes straight before becoming tired from her pregnancy and a little dizzy. Law was instantly at her side when he felt her becoming dizzy. And despite her being in only three feet of water, he kept his arm around her waist, securing her to his side. She said, "Sorry. I guess I did a little too much too fast."

"Yeah." Law nodded. Without another word, he helped her up the ladder then over to their chairs. He sat her down on hers then pressed his hand to her forehead. "At least you're not getting sick. Do you need anything?"  
"Something fruity and cool to drink," Neo said. "Think you can find that?"  
"There's a bar over there." Law nodded to the end of the pool where several guests were gathered around. "I'm sure they can do one without alcohol. I'll be right back."

"Don't take too long," Neo said.

Law nodded and stood up.

Neo relaxed with a sign. Closing her eyes to try and get her dizziness to subside. She was tempted to use her solar crystal but then the dizziness started fading away. "That's much better."

"Hey, sweet thing," a familiar, unwanted voice said.

"Oh great," Neo mumbled. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes to see the brown haired guy from the swimsuit store.

"I didn't think I'd see you again so soon," Brendon said, pushing up his sunglasses on his head. "Mind if I sit with you?"  
"Yes," Neo said flatly.

Brendon laughed and sat down anyway.

Neo pulled away from him and started to stand up.

"Hold on a second, babe," Brendon said.

Neo glanced over her shoulder just in time to see his hand reaching for her wrist. She gasped, standing up faster while summoning all of her crystals. In a slight over panic, she used all of them on him, knocking him into the pool with a loud splash that turned everyone's heads.

Brendon broke the surface, coughing and sputtering out water from the surprise attack. He then glared at Neo as he moved for the ladder. "How dare you do that?! I was just being friendly! Look! You've completely ruined my watch!"

"You were not being friendly," Neo said. "You were being intrusive. That chair is for _my husband_ , not _you_."

"Not that husband thing again," Brendon said, pulling himself out of the pool. "I already said you're too beautiful to be tied down to one man. If you're going to marry someone then it should be me."

"I'm already married," Neo said, flashing her ring again. "And even if I wasn't you are not the type I'd marry."

"And what's that suppose to mean?" Brendon asked, stomping over to her with sloshy footsteps.

"Exactly what you know it means," Neo said, shifting her crystals in front of her. "Now leave before you upset my husband any more that you already have. I guarantee you won't like what he does to you when he gets here."

Brendon scoffed. "Yeah right. I'm so scared of your _imaginary husband_." He continued walking forward.

Neo was ready for him. Anticipating him to try and grab her again, she snapped out her vines, wrapping him up and holding him in the air like a human piñata.

"What the heck are you doing?!" Brendon hissed while struggling to get free of her hold. "Let me go this instant!"

She shook her head. "I warned you. Now you-" Her magic cut out. The vines unwrapped from him and he fell to his feet, stumbling forward to his knees.

"Ouch!" Brendon cried when his knees collided with the concrete. He snapped his anger filled eyes to Neo. Jumping up, he rushed forward to her, unaware of the blue sphere appearing around them and unaware of Neo's look of knowing what was about to come. He swung his fist at her. "You're going to pay for that!"

Neo vanished, Law appeared. He grabbed the man's wrist, instantly breaking his arm in four different places by jamming his elbow down on the man. The bone snapped loud enough to hear over the man's piercing screams, breaking the skin, causing bone to stick out in two places dripping with blood. Normally he would enjoy this type of pain he caused his prey. But he was too angry to enjoy the pain filled screams the man was releasing from his severely broken arm. _No one_ was permitted to threaten his love. He jerked the man towards him, almost to the point of their noses touching. His steel eyes turning ice cold when he locked eyes with the man. He hissed, "Don't you ever, _ever_ raise your hand to her again. You better thank God above and you're lucky stars that I don't just kill you right here and now, because I _have_ killed for her and I won't hesitate to do it again. And don't you _ever_ think about touching her again. If you do, I _will_ kill you. Now get lost."

Law dropped the man. He watched him carefully as he scurried away in desperation for a doctor and heavy painkillers. His eyes then wonder over the other guests and workers at the pool. They were whispering in shock, but he knew they wouldn't make a scene. They knew who he was. It was obvious they knew. So they went on about their own business, even the lifeguards and other workers at the poolside went about their business.

"Thanks, Law," Neo said, walking up to him with their drinks in her hands, which he had been holding before switching places with her. "I should have known my magic would cut out right when I needed it."

"Don't worry about it," Law said, placing a hand on her stomach. "You two are safe. That's what matters. Do you still want to stay here for a while? He won't bother you again. I guarantee that."

"Yes. I want to stay." Neo nodded. They sat back down on their chairs. Law's arm went back around her waist, resting again on her thigh while his other hand took his drink from her as she took a sip of her own. She hummed in delight. "So yummy. Blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, and mangos. What did you get?"

"Cherries, kiwi, lime, and lemon," Law said.

"Oh, you wanted it sour," Neo said. "I see you didn't mention any alcohol."

"Of course not," Law said. "You know I don't drink much. And I knew you'd want to try mine as well."

"You know me well," Neo said before sampling his drink. Her cheeks puckered at the sour taste. "Sour but still so good."

Law chuckled. He kissed her temple then the two settled down to share each other's drinks and enjoy the calmness of the pool until it was time to leave. They wondered back to their room, talking about whatever Neo felt like talking about. He listened closely to her every word but also kept a close look out for that guy that insisted on bothering her. He had no idea who he was. He could be part of a pirate crew, though he doubted it since he didn't see a Jolly Roger anywhere on him. Still it was possible. Or he could be someone else. He easily noticed the man was well dressed so he probably had a lot of money. And that would also account for his one track mind of feeling he had the right to hit on his wife. He didn't doubt that they would see him, or someone else the guy knew, before they left the island. He really didn't mind much. He could easily handle whatever came their way. He just didn't want Neo's honeymoon to get interrupted by an avoidable bloodbath. He was really starting to consider having the Elementals for a barrier around them. But then they'd be with someone all the time. That would defeat the purpose of their honeymoon.

"Law," Neo's voice said. Her hand then cupped his face, pulling his eyes towards her. She pulled him down into a kiss. "It's fine. You don't have to have the Elementals or the crew around to guard us. I'm having a great time. It's just normal that some jerk is going to act like that guy did. I don't care. We're here together. And that's the only think that matters. Now stop getting distracted."

"I'm sorry, love," Law said. "I'm just a bit worried because he was so close to touching you."

Neo nodded. "I know. But I saw it coming and was able to stop him. I'm fine." She took his hands and placed them on her stomach. "We're fine. No more worrying?"

"No more worrying," Law said.

"Good boy." She kissed him again then pulled him inside of their room, which he didn't even noticed they had reached yet. Once inside they both changed quickly then headed back out. They continued to talk while they walked towards their destination, fingers lazily intertwined. Only difference this time, Neo was summoning her earth crystals to grow her some apples and a few other fruits and vegetables when she got the craving for them. She shared with Law when he pulled her hand over to him for a bite. Before long they reached the tent where the magic show would be held in just a few minutes. "Huh?"

"There are Elementals here," Law said, feeling the exact same thing as Neo.

"Do you think they're part of the show?" Neo asked. "I can sense the animals and they are some of the happiest I've ever felt."

"They must own the show," Law said, guiding her inside of the tent. He guided them to a couple empty chairs in the front row. He sat her down in the chair on the end, so the person who sat beside them couldn't touch her, and sat down with her.

"I think you might be correct," Neo said. "I feel about nine Elementals in the back of the tent." She looked around at the people who had already gathered in the tent with them. "I wonder how many here know the Elementals aren't human. This is going to be interesting to see on more than one level."

"I bet." Law nodded.

"Think they use their crystals in their act?" Neo asked.

"I bet they do since the stage doesn't actually have a floor," Law said, looking at the circular stage in front of them. "They'd be able to bring more tricks and illusions into their acts if they did. We'll probably be seeing a flying dog here pretty soon."

"That will be so cute to see," Neo said. "I mean, as long as the dog's not afraid of flying. But with Elementals in control I'm sure the animals will have complete trust in their handlers."

"Indeed," Law said with another nod.

The lights when out, casting them all into darkness, and causing everyone to get quiet with only a few murmurs of excitement. Three spotlights lit up three different spots on the stage. The tent when completely quiet then as three flowers began to sprout out of the ground. The two on the sides were dark blue with trims of purple while the middle one was completely white. They grew to about five feet tall before blooming out to reveal three Elementals, all earth controllers, who tossed up glitter into the air when they emerged. The glitter rained down on them. The Elementals stepped down from their flowers and started to dance around in their elaborate outfits that resembled leaves and flowers.

Other flowers sprouted out of the ground, streams of water weaving through out them followed them. Elementals came out of the flowers again. They slipped into the water current then jumped out of it with bursts of water following them. The crowd gasped. Questions of how this was possible ran through the tent. Neo and Law exchanged smiles. It was very clear some people were still not aware of the Elementals.

Then the animals were brought in. Birds flew out of all the elements then around the tent, being spotlighted while dropping small gifts of colorful flowers onto the crowd below them. A couple wind Elementals even lifted a few people into the air with them, flying them around before settling them back into their chairs. Applauses erupted. Dogs ran out onto the stage. They instantly dove into the obstacle course the Elementals set out for them with their crystals. They ran across vine bridges, jumped from flower to flower, stood up on their hind legs, and other various tricks like that.

Neo watched with childlike amazement. She grabbed onto Law's arm when the dogs started jumping through fire hoops. She squealed. Her heart thudding in worry for the dogs despite being able to feel the fire Elementals pushing the fire away from the dogs and the water Elementals readying their crystals just in case something when wrong. And before anyone knew, the show came to an end with one of the dogs running out into the audience and jumping into Neo's lap. She squealed with delight at the furry animal in her arms and licking her cheek.

"Thank you all for coming," an Elemental announced, the one who came out of the white flower. "We hope you all enjoyed the show and will come see us again."

The crow applauded. The lights on the stage went out just as the main lights came back on. Everyone started filing out of the tent, talking in excitement on what they had just seen. Some kids asking their parents if they could go up and look at the stage to see if they could figure out how the tricks were done. But no one did. They all just left leaving the pirates and the Elementals the only ones in the tent.

"Princess," the announcer said, walking over to the pirates. She was followed by the rest of the Elemental performers. They all gathered in front of Neo and took to their knee. "It is an honor to have you grace our show. Was it to your liking?"

"Yes," Neo said, her hand stroking over the dog's soft fur. "It was amazing. I never would have thought to use my crystals in the way that you all did. And you all are taking very good care of the animals. I am pleased."

"Thank you, Princess." The announcer looked up with a smile. "We are glad that you approve of how we are running our show here. We did not expect to be putting on a show for you, even though we were informed you were here."

"I guess Topaz has been here," Neo said.

"Indeed," the announcer said. She stood up, as did the rest. "Forgive us. But we must retreat to the back of the tent. We have to see to the animals and get prepared for the next show."

"Yes, of course," Neo said, cuddling the dog. "You're just so cute. I wish I could take you home with me."

"Neo, give the dog back now," Law said.

"I know, I know," Neo said, handing the dog back over to the announcer. "Bye, bye you cute furry little baby."

"Excuse us, Princess," the announcer said. With another bow, the Elementals walked away.

"Law," Neo said.

"I know," Law said, wrapping her back into his arm. He kissed her temple. "But you know we can't have a dog on the sub. It wouldn't be fair to the dog."

"I know," Neo said. "I still want one though."

"Maybe some day," Law said, guiding her towards the exit of the tent. "For now lets just get something to eat."

"Yeah!" Neo nodded. "I'm so hungry! I want a corndog! Some popcorn! I feel like something sweet too! So we can share some ice cream!"

"All right, all right," Law said, looking around. "Let's see what we can find."

"There!" Neo announced. She pointed at a white stand that was selling both popcorn and corndogs. She pulled Law over to it, all but dragging him all the way.

"What can I get for ya?" the man asked.

"Two corndogs, a large popcorn, and two sweet teas," Neo said.

"Right away." The man turned around and gathered up their order.

When Neo received it, she piled condiments on her large corndog. She said, "Get some ketchup…some mustard…oh! And definitely some relish! Lots and lots of relish!"

The man lifted an eyebrow at her while his hand reached for the money Law was holding out.

"Pregnant," Law said, answering the unasked question.

"Ah," the man drawled. "I see. Well, congratulations you two. I hope you have a healthy baby."

"Thank you," Law said, gathering their meal.

Neo mumbled an incoherent "Thank you" as well through the large bite of condiment covered corndog. She followed Law over to a small round table where they sat to enjoy their meal. Law watched in amusement as Neo piled popcorn on her corndog and ate it. "This is so yummy! Law! You have to try it!"

"No, thank you," Law said. "I'm good with my regular corndog."

"Okay! But you don't know what you're missing!" Neo sang.

"I'll survive." Law smiled then took another bit of his corndog.

"It's all so yummy," Neo said. "But the tea is a bit too sweet. Maybe I should carry around my own tea from now on. What do you think?"

"You could do that," Law said.

Neo hummed in consideration. "Maybe. It would give me access to how I like my tea, but then it would also give me something to keep up with. I could easily lose my cups when we engage in battle. I'll have to put more thought into it to decide. We're definitely going to have to eat here again. The cornmeal is absolutely fabulous! It almost tastes sweet itself! I'll have to try some experiments for corndogs back on the sub!"

"I'm sure the crew will love that," Law said.

"So, we're going to the mini golf course next, aren't we?" Neo asked.

"Unless there's something else you want to go do first," Law said.

"I don't think so," Neo said. "I really want to see this mini golf course. Then maybe we can do a few of the calmer rides. There's this one called The Tunnel of Love. Does that mean people have sex in a tunnel?"

A couple people next to them busted up laughing.

"What?" Neo asked, innocently. "What did I say?"  
"Haven't you ever been to an amusement park before?" the lady asked.

"I have." Neo nodded. "But I don't recall a ride like that one being there."

"So you've never heard of The Tunnel of Love?" the man asked.

"No." Neo tilted her head curiously. "That's not a bad thing."

"Of course not," the woman said.

"Then why did you laugh?" Neo asked. "Was my question really that funny?"

"We apologize," the woman said. "We just never heard anyone but kids ask question so bluntly like that before."

"I can be a bit naïve," Neo admitted. "I had a bad childhood so I'm lacking in some knowledge."

"I see," the man said.

"In that case," the woman said. "The Tunnel of Love is just a water ride. You float through a romantic setting inside of a tunnel. No one has sex on it. Or they're not supposed to. I'm sure some deviants at some point had a little tryst on the ride."

"I see. Well, thanks for tell me," Neo said. "It still sounds like a fun ride."

"It can be." The woman nodded while she and the men she was with gathered up their things and walked away. "Have a nice day!"

"You too!" Neo waved to them then turned back to Law. "They were nice. They didn't make fun of my lack of knowledge either." She turned back to her corndog, devouring it and about half the popcorn within a few more bites. "That was so yummy! Shall we go now?"

Law nodded. Popping the last bite of his own corndog into his mouth, he stood up with her and they headed towards the mini golf course.

"Wow!" Neo exclaim when they finally reacted it. The mini golf course was decorated with tons of plastic animals, basically resembling a zoo. "It's so cute!"

"Yeah." Law nodded in agreement for her sake. He really didn't care what the mini golf course looked like.

"So where do we start?" Neo asked looking around at the confusing course.

"We start with that small building over there." Law pointed to the building he was talking about. It was small, two rooms, with a young woman sitting inside as she handed out balls and putters. He took Neo's hand and walked over to the building. He pay for their game then guided Neo over to the first hole. They waited a couple minutes for the small group ahead of them to move through the first hole. Neo watched closely as they placed their balls down on the fake green grass and smack their balls.

"Oh, so that's all you do?" Neo asked.

"Yes." Law nodded. "Would you like to go first?"  
"I, uh, guess so," Neo said. She stepped up to the green. Placing her ball down on the fake grass, she took her putter in both hands awkwardly fumbling with it for a moment before becoming frustrated with herself.

"Calm down, love." Law propped up his own putter against a fake elephant before stepping behind her. He put his arms around her and showed her how to properly hold the putter and guided her through her first hit. "Separate your hands like this. Then pull back and tap the ball."

"Eek! It moved!" Neo exclaimed. She watched as the ball bounced against the woodened side then rolled right next to the hole. "Wow! Thanks, Law! I think I can do it now!"

Law nodded. He reclaimed his putter and hit his own ball. He hit it purposefully a little harder than he should so it would bounce away from the hole. He wanted to let Neo get comfortable with the game before he put more pressure on her. Little did he know she didn't need a handicap from him. After the first four holes she got the hang of the game easily enough and was beating him. He shook his head when she made her fifth hole in one. "If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were cheating with your crystals."

"You know I'd never do that," Neo said, smiling. "I guess I'm just a natural at this game. I didn't think I'd have so much fun."

"Hm?" Law looked down when he felt something tug on his pant leg. His eyebrows rose when he saw a little round face, with little round green eyes staring up at him.

"Law, it's your-is that a baby?" Neo turned to Law. Her eyes immediately followed his dropped gaze to find what he was starting at.

"Apparently so," Law said.

"He's cute," Neo cooed. She walked over and bent down to the baby. "Hello, little one. Where's your mommy? Is she here?"

Law looked around. No one seemed to be in a panic over losing a child. "Doesn't look like anyone around here is missing a child. Or they haven't noticed yet."

"Where do you think he came from?" Neo asked. She watched with a smile as the baby started pulling on Law's pant leg and making noises. "What does he want? He keeps pulling on your jeans and making noises."

"He wants me to pick him up," Law said.

"Pick him up then," Neo said.

Law frowned.

"Oh, come on, Law," Neo said, smiling up at him. "I want to see you holding a baby."

"You'll see me holding one when ours comes," Law said.

"You're such a meanie," Neo said. She dropped her eyes back down to the baby. Part of her wanted to pick the child up, to protect him, but another part of her wasn't ready to hold a baby yet. She was still nervous about hurting such a fragile thing with what she had done in the past.

Then the baby turned his eyes to her. He wobbled on his stubby little legs, just staring at her like he was trying to figure her out. Then a smile spread across his face. He released Law and all but ran over to the young woman, grabbing onto her. Neo gasped in shock. Her heart thumped against her chest as her anxiety rose. She pulled away from the kid but stopped when she felt Law wrap his presence around her. After several seconds, she allowed her hands to slowly lift up to the child's body. Once he was firmly in her hold, all of her anxiety released from her body. She stood up carefully. "He's so tiny. How old do you think he is?"

"Considering he's pretty stable on his feet he's probably close to being a year old," Law said, loving the site of seeing Neo holding a baby, if only it was theirs.

"What should we do with him?" Neo asked while the baby patted her cheeks with his chubby little hands.

"We'll notify a park employee," Law said nodding towards the small building where they paid for their game. "They'll contact the park authorities. And they'll take care of it from there."

"We'll have to hand him over to strangers?" Neo's voice was full of alarm as her eyes started to fill with tears. "He's just baby, Law. We can't do that to him."

Law instantly realizing he should have chosen his words better. He pulled her to his chest. "Don't cry, love. He'll be just fine. The workers here are trained to take care of issues like this. I promise they'll take very good care of him."

"You mean it?" Neo asked.

"Yes." Law nodded firmly. "But if you really get a bad feeling leaving him with whoever comes, we can stay with him until we find his parents."

"Thanks, Law! You're the best!" Neo said. She firmly held the child in her arms while Law gathered up their gaming supplies.

"Come on," Law said, guiding her towards the small building. "Excuse me."

"Yes?" the girl asked. "Huh? You two didn't have a baby when you came in here."

"He wondered over to us," Law said. "We think he wondered away from his parents. Could you contact the park authorities?"

"Of course! Right away!" She jumped off her seat and ran over to the transponder snail.

"Do you think he needs anything?" Neo asked. "Food? Water? Maybe a diaper change?"

"We don't have any diapers to change him with," Law said.

"I guess so," Neo said. "But I'm still worried he might need something. Do you think he's hungry?"

"No, he's not hungry," Law said. He watched at the baby finger Neo's face and her hair. "If he was he would be fussing. And he's obviously happy right now."

"So I'm doing just fine by holding him like this?" Neo asked. "Should I hold him differently?"

"Love, you're doing just fine," Law said. "He's not fussing in any kind of way so he's content right now. Just relax. Try talking to him."

"Okay, okay," Neo said, trying to do as he said. "I'm trying, I'm trying." She thought for a second on what to say. "So, how are you doing, little one?"

The baby smiled at her, putting her more at ease.

"Oh, you really are a cute little thing," Neo said, her eyes running over his features, noting that his hair was just fuzz and going to be very black. "Looks like you're going to have black hair. With your bright green eyes I think you're going to be a very handsome young man some day."

The baby's grin brightened at her words as if he understood or was agreeing with her.

"I think you just agreed with me," Neo said. "Well, you better not get a big head over your looks. Girls won't like you if care more about your looks than being with them."

Law leaned against the building, calmly taking Neo in as her maternal instincts started coming over every bit of her anxiety. He knew right then and there that they were going to be with this kid until they found his parents and personally delivered him to them.

"We're in luck," the woman said, walking back over to them. "The kid's parents are already at the security base. They've been so worried about him. They're sending over a unit to take the baby to them. I hate to ask, but could you two stay here and watch the kid? I don't have time to watch him and take care of my guests at once. It'll only be about ten minutes."

"Sure." Law nodded. He then slipped his arm around Neo's waist, guiding her away from the forming line and to a picnic table underneath a small tree. "We'll wait here."

"At least he doesn't have to wait for long to be reunited with his parents," Neo said, sitting down. "Isn't that exciting, baby? You'll get to see your mommy and daddy soon."

The baby giggled.

"I don't think he even knows the worry he's put his parents through," Neo said, tickling the baby under his chin. "You silly baby. You're blissfully unaware of the trouble you've caused."

The baby grabbed her finger. He inspected it for a few seconds before pulling her digit into his mouth. His eyes drifted to Law. They lit up when seeing the Surgeon of Death. He reached for Law with his one free hand.

"I don't think so, kid," Law said.

"But he likes you," Neo said. "You should hold him."

"Not going to happen," Law said.

"Uh!" The baby protested with a disapproving grunt when Law didn't pay him any mind. He threw his tiny arms around Neo and grunted again. "Uh! Uh!"

"Don't worry about it, baby," Neo said, rubbing his back. "We'll get him to hold you before you're returned to your parents."

"Don't count on it," Law said, leaning back against the table.

"He's only talking big," Neo whispered to the baby, but still loud enough for Law to hear her. "He actually likes you. I can tell. We're bonded. He can't keep secrets from me for long. Just you watch. He'll cave soon and hold you even for a second."

Law scoffed but didn't say anything. He continued to lean back against the table unable to stop himself from taking several glances over at Neo and the baby. He just couldn't miss this opportunity to see Neo holding a baby, even if it wasn't theirs. It made his heart race inside of his chest. He loved the sight of her holding a baby. It just suited her. And it made him feel so impatient on wanting to see her holding their own child.

Neo giggled upon feeling Law's gaze on them. Her bells shocked the baby. He bounced up and down in her lap. "You like my bells, don't you?"

The baby fingers Neo's lips, trying to figure out where the bells were coming from. After a minute of getting nowhere, he leaned over to Law, wiggling his little fingers at the surgeon. "Baa, ba, ah, ah."

"Not happening, kid," Law said.

Neo grinned, moving the baby closer to her husband so the baby could grab his shirt.

"Neo," Law said.

"What?" she asked innocently.

Then, before Neo could move the baby any closer to him, two security guards walked over to them, one man and one woman. The woman said, "So there you are, little guy. Your parents have been so worried about you. You must be the good folks who've been taking care of him."

"Yeah." Law nodded.

"Well, let's get this little guy back to his parents," the man said.

The woman nodded and reached out for the baby. But the baby didn't want to go with them. He screamed and grabbed onto Neo. The woman said, "Oh dear."

"There, there," Neo said, patting the baby's back. "It's all right."

"Why don't we ride along with you?" Law asked. "The baby seems to have taken a liking to my wife."

"It seems the feeling is mutual," the woman said. "But, sure, it's not a problem. Let's go."

The pirates stood up. They piled into the back seat of a small motor ran vehicle and took off. During the ride the baby finally got into Law's lap. He all but lunged onto Law when he and Neo were distracted for a second. Law frowned as the baby smiled up at him.

"Told you he would make it," Neo said. She watched as the baby's fast hands snatched Law's hat off his head.

The baby started gnawing on the hat brim. It only lasted a few second before the baby's face twisted into a sour expression. He then tossed then hat to the floor and leaned back for Neo.

Neo gladly took the baby back in her arms while Law grumbled to himself as he picked his hat up off the floor. She said, "Told you he likes you."

"Yeah. Sure," Law mumbled.

The vehicle then pulled to a stop in front of a rather large, two story building. As they got out they heard a woman's cries, "My baby!"

"He's all right, ma'am," the woman guard informed her as she and her husband ran up to them with several kids, all of them with the same black hair and green eyes. "No injuries what so ever."

The husband was trying to corral five other rambunctious kids, one a teenage girl, as they moved over to them. The woman reached them first and plucked her baby from Neo's arms. Neo jumped at the unexpected brush of the woman's hands on her skin. Her heart started pounding wildly but stopped when Law placed his hand on her back, rubbing her back into a relaxed state.

"These are the nice folks that found him and took good care of him until we could bring him here," the male guard said.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" the woman cried, tears running like rivers down her red cheeks, as she held her baby to her chest. "I was so scared! I turned around and he was just gone! The buckle on his stroller broke and he took off! You naughty boy! You really shouldn't wonder off like that! You scared mommy to death and back!"

"Yes, thank you," the man said while trying to hold on to two of the kids in his arms, they were about three and five years of age. Two of the older kids, twin boys around eight years old wearing glasses, suddenly grabbed onto Law's legs.

Neo bit her bottom lip, to try and keep from smiling, when Law glared down at the boys touching him.

"Look at his pants! They have spots on them! They're cool!" the twins exclaimed with laughter. "I want a pair! Make that two pairs! He looks like a seal!"

"Boys! Release him at once!" the father reprimanded.

The boys pouted but did as they were told. "Okay."

"They can have the pants. I'll take the guy who's wearing them," the teenage girl purred.

Neo glared at the young girl when she batted her young yet long eyelashes at her husband. A low rumble of thunder released above them, causing the adults, but for her and Law, to look up at the darkening sky as the wind picked up. She wrapped her arms Law's arm, pulling him away from the girl's attempt of touching him. She did her best not to hiss at the child, she didn't know any better after all. She said, "Sorry, but he's _mine_."

 _'Easy, Neo.'_ Law thought to her. _'She's just a kid.'_

The girl frowned when she looked at Neo.

"Melina, leave him alone," her father snapped. "He's way too old for you. Get over here at once."

Neo released her stalled fury. The dark clouds rolled away while the wind died back down when the girl walked back over to her dad.

"That was odd. It seemed like it was going to storm just now," the mother said before turning back to her family.

"It was. Well, thanks again for your help. Sorry about the trouble," the female security guard said to the pirates. "Would you like a lift to somewhere?"

"Or you could come home with me," the teenage girl offered while smiling at Law.

"No thanks. We can walk," Law said. His voice almost panicked when the girl spoke to him again. With Neo's arms still around his, they took off before she could release another brewing storm. "You didn't have to get jealous like that."

"I know. I just can't help it," Neo said. "But at least I didn't release my crystals on her. And I have to admit this will make a funny story to tell the crew."

"Don't you dare even think about telling them what happened here," Law said.

"Why not?" Neo poked him in the ribs. "You look so cute holding onto a baby. It was even cuter when he didn't like how your hat tasted."

"Very funny," Law said, pulling her closer to his body.

"I'm still telling, Neo said.

…

"Oh, what a day," Neo said upon entering the hotel later that night. "I think that is the farthest we have ever walked before. My feet are killing me."

"We were all over that park today," Law said, his arm draped over her shoulders while her fingers laced lazily through his.

"I want a foot massage," Neo all but whined. "And these shoes need to be burned with extreme fiery prejudice."

"Yes on the foot massage. Absolutely no on the burning your sandals," Law said.

"So unfair," Neo said, leaning into him. "Shoes are my most despised enemy. You should be more than glad to get rid all of them for me."

Law chuckled and shook his head. She was truthful. Shoes were her most despised enemy. An enemy she would gladly eliminate off the planet if he would let her.

"Excuse me! Mr. Trafalgar!"

"Hm?" Law and Neo turned to the woman calling his name.

"You have a package," an older woman in her early forties said from behind the check in counter with a basket.

"Why would we have a package?" Neo asked as they walked over to claim it. She saw a little note suck on top of the cover and pluck it out. Looking at it she found it was from her favorite blonde haired cook. "It's from Sanji."

 _Neo, my darling! And Law,_

 _I bought you a special little gift for your honeymoon! Enjoy it at your leisure! And, Law, don't you dare be too hard on her while making sweet love! If you hurt her or your baby I'll kill you!_

 _Sincerely yours,_

 _Sanji_

Law grumbled at being told what to do. It's not like he didn't know that already.

"He bought us a gift?" Neo pulled back the cover on the basket to reveal some strawberries, liquid chocolate, and some hot body oil. "Why would he give us this stuff? It's just strawberries and…oh…" Her cheeks flushed red upon realizing what Sanji was intending for them to do.  
Law smiled when the lady behind the desk giggled. She said, "She's so innocent. It's cute."

"We should head to our room now," Law said as casually as he could.

"Have fun you two!" the lady said as they walked off.

"Well, uh, these strawberries look really fresh," Neo said, gazing into the basket. "Since Sanji sent this over, I'm sure they are."

"Well, wait for a little while before tasting them," Law said, leading her down the hall to their door. Once they reached it, he unlocked it and they entered.

"Oh," Neo said, disappointed. "Okay."

"We'll get to those in a little while," Law said before nipping her neck. "But first we need to take a shower."

"Oh! Yeah!" Neo chirped. "I almost forgot about that!"

"Then let's get to it," Law said, taking the basket from her. He placed it down on the nightstand by the bed then lead her to the bathroom. He warped them out of their clothes, receiving a pointed look from Neo. "Trust me, love. You'll want to get this shower over as quickly as possible."

"I doubt that," Neo said as he turned on the water.

"I know you will," Law said, stepping under the water. He held out his hand for her.

Sighing, she placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her under the water with him. At a medium speed, the two washed the day off from each other. Law lingering a bit to satisfy her desire to be in the water with him while she ran her hands over his slick skin, stealing kisses from his lips and placing kisses all over his body while curling her fingers around him. Stepping out of the shower together, Law grabbed a towel and wrapped her up in it, taking a kiss from her before wrapping a towel around his own hips and leading her out to the bed. She summoned her fire and wind crystals to dry their hair for them as they went.

"We're not going to get dressed?" Neo asked as Law tugged off her towel and guided her down onto the bed. She banished her crystals.

"Like you want to get dress," Law said, smirking at her.

Neo shifted awkwardly on the bed, her cheeks flushing once again.

"Why so shy all of a sudden?" Law said, pulling the chocolate out of the basket. "You weren't this way when we were in the shower or last night."

"I don't know," Neo admitted. "I guess because Sanji suggested this. I kind of feel like he's here now."

"Well, he's not," Law said, drizzling the chocolate over her expose skin. Reaching into the basket, he pulled out a plump strawberry then trailed it along the chocolate on her stomach before bring it up to her lips. "Taste it."

Neo sunk her teeth into it. Juices poured over her teeth and onto her tongue. The sweet juices making her mouth water as she hummed in enjoyment. "It's so good."

"And the best is yet to come." Law leaned down. Slowly licking the chocolate off the inside of her thigh.

"Oh! Law!" Neo exclaimed.

…

 **Apple Bloom: No worries. I know weather has messed me up before from posting and doing other internet related things.**


	5. Vacation P5

Vacation

Part Five

 _"Huh?" Neo blinked and looked around the beach. Everyone from the Straw Hat crew, Law, Shachi, Penguin, Topaz, and Bepo was with her. The women were lounging around on their towels letting their skin get darkened by the sun while the guys were running around playing games or getting into arguments over one thing or another. It appeared to be a normal day at the beach for them. But something did feel right about this. Something was wrong. She just couldn't figure out what it was. Then something caused her to look up. A startled gasp escaped her lips. Instead of seeing the typical light blue sky, she saw the sky was midnight blue with several strange balls with glowing red veins floating around in it. "What is that?"_

 _"Neo, what are you doing?" Law's voice asked._

 _Neo turned to Law just as he walked up to her. "Law, something's wrong."_

 _"What do you mean?" Law asked._

 _"Just look up at the sky," Neo said, pointing to the sky. "It's dark. And there are strange balls floating around too."_

 _"Oh, yeah." Law looked up then back down at her. "I'm sure it's nothing."_

 _"Law?" Neo tilted her head. Something about him seemed off too. "What's wrong with you?"_

 _"What do you mean?" Law asked with a dull smile._

 _"You don't seem like yourself," Neo said. "I'm scared."_

 _"There's no need to be scared," Law said. He started walking towards her._

 _Neo expected him to pull her into his arms like he always did. But this time he just kept walking on past her. She turned, following him with her gaze. "Law?"  
"Come on, Neo," Law said, looking back over at his shoulder. "Let's have some fun."_

 _"But Law!" Neo ran after him. After a few seconds of running, she noticed that she wasn't getting any closer to him. In fact, he and everyone else seemed to get farther and farther away from her. Her heart began to race in panic. "Wait! Come back! Where are you all going?!"_

 _No one responded. They just kept going about their current activities. Sudden movement caused her to look up again. The strange balls started to move around. They flew down towards her loved ones and started glowing._

 _"No!" Neo shouted. "What are you doing?! Leave them alone! Look out, everyone!"_

 _Still no one answered her. No one even looked in her direction, not even Law who should have been able to feel her panicking. She summoned her crystals and fired all of the elements at the balls. Her attacks just passed right through the strange balls. She gasped. "No!"_

 _The balls floated closer to the pirates, engulfing them in their glow, they started pulling the pirates into them._

 _"No! Stop it! What are you doing?!" Neo ran towards them. But like before, she couldn't catch up with them. The balls then absorbed all of her friends and family into them then shot into the dark sky. Hot tears streamed down her face. She dropped to the ground. "No! Give them back! Give them back to me! Law!"_

"No…stop. Come back," Neo said in her sleep while tossing her head from side to side. "Please give them back! Give them back to me! Law!"

"Neo, wake up." Law grabbed her shoulders. "Come on. Wake up now."

Neo gasped as her wet eyes popped open. Her breaths were labored while her brain registered that Law was right in front of her. She shot up, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Oh, Law! You went away! You, the Straw Hats, Topaz, Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo! Something took you away from me!"

"Shh. It's all right, love. I'm still here," Law said, rubbing her back. He held her trembling body firmly to his. "It as just nightmare. It's over now. I'm here."

Slowly her breathing slowed down and her tears started drying up. When she finally pulled away from him, she took his face in her hands and kissed his lips. "Law."

"It's over," he said and she nodded.

"But something going to happen," Neo said.

Law wanted to desperately tell her she was wrong. But from past experiences both would know it was a lie. So he said, "I know. Try not to worry about it. We're all very strong. We can handle whatever comes our way. Besides, you didn't dream that any of us got hurt or died."

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "You all were just taken away. I think that's all that happened really."

"And _if_ that happens, we'll make our way back to you," Law said. "Just like we always have."

Neo nodded again.

"Would you like to get up now?" Law asked.

"I guess," Neo said. "We're going to the snowy side of the island today, aren't we?"  
"We are," Law said, raking his fingers through her hair. "But if you don't feel like going we could stay in the hotel for a while instead."

"No, I still want to go," Neo said. "Sitting around here will only make me worry more. I need the distraction."

"All right. Let's get dressed then," Law said. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before climbing off the bed.

Neo followed him. Her eyes landing on their matching winter coats laying over the chair in the room. "When did you get those? I didn't seen them in the suitcases before." Her lips curled into a frown when she saw her boots sitting on the floor. "And my boots are here as well. Great."

"Jean Bart stopped by to check in while you were still sleeping. I asked him to go to the sub and get our winter coats," Law said. "He brought them a few minutes ago."

"That was nice of him. Though he could have left the boots behind," Neo said, glaring at the unwanted item.

"Deal with them, love. We're going over to the winter side of the island," Law said. "You know you have to wear them."

"I don't _have_ to," Neo purred as she snuggled up against him and reached for his hair.

"Neo." Law crossed his arms over his chest, putting a bit of distance between their two bodies.

"Oh, fine." She retraced her hand. "How's the rest of the crew?"  
"They're fine. He's seen about all of them before he came here," Law replied. "He said some of them, plus a few Straw Hats, were heading over to spend the day there."

"So we might run into them," Neo said. "I wonder if Luffy's staying out of trouble."

"He must be," Law said. "If he wasn't we would have heard about it by now."

"Yeah, I guess you're correct about that," Neo said. "And there's been no fires or explosions so he must be keeping himself entertained."

"Hurry up now," Law said. "I have some things planned for us today."

"Oh," Neo said. "I hope they're fun things."

"I think you'll like them," Law said with a smile.

"I'll definitely hurry then," Neo said before disappearing into the bathroom. Soon she was dressed and ready to go. The two pirates threw their coats over their shoulders and headed out of their room. They had a quick breakfast then headed outside where Neo summoned a wind crystal and lifted them into the air. The island had small motorized vehicles people could rent, but this way was faster and it saved them some money. After a few seconds, the warm island air was quickly replaced with cold island air. The pirates pulled on their coats just before Neo lowered them to the snowy ground. "Wow! It's so beautiful here! Nothing like Punk Hazard was!"

"Punk Hazard probably would have looked like this if it wasn't destroyed by the gas and then by Akainu and Aokiji's battle," Law said.

Neo ran her eyes over the snow covered ground and trees. Her brain tried to imagine Punk Hazard as a beautiful snowy wonderland. She even tried to picture it was a beautiful green wonderland. She couldn't. All she saw was the frozen wasteland on one side and the burning, unfit for almost anyone, side. "I can't picture it. Anyway, where are we going first? The brochures said this place has ice skating, skiing, something call toboggans, several resting cabins are around here, they sell food too."

"I'm not sure if we're going to do things like skating and skiing," Law said.

"Why not?" Neo asked.

"Because you're pregnant," Law said.

"Dangerous, huh?" Neo asked.

"Yes," Law said with a nod. "But you could easily use your wind crystals to keep yourself from getting hurt. I'm just don't want to take any chances."

"You're so cute when you worry about us," Neo said, placing her hand on her stomach and looked down. Snow crunching indicated to her that Law was coming closer. His hand then appeared over hers. She looked up at him before wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss. "So, my sweet lover, what surprised are you going to unveil on me?"

"You'll see soon," Law said. He pecked her lips, laced their fingers together, and led her to her first surprise.

Quietly, the two walked through a forest path while Neo kept breathing out to watch her breath dance around in the cold air. She was then distracted by several snowmen lining the path, more than likely built by kids who were running around the island, but a couple were clearly done by Luffy, Usopp, Franky, and Chopper as there were snowmen that depicted their physical characteristics. Neo giggled upon seeing their friends as snowmen. Her bells rang out at the same time a few birds flew away from the snow covered branches. The snow rained down on them, making her gasp at the beautiful sight mixing in with her bells. "Wow. It's so beautiful here. And, wait, do I sense horses?"

Law smiled.

"There are horses here?" Neo asked.

"There are," Law said as he continued to pull her through the forest path.

"Are we going to see the horses?" Neo asked when she felt them getting closer to the animals. "Is that the surprise?"  
"Sort of," Law said just as they reached another path. He guided her down it. It was a short path and soon they came to a small farm with several horses walking or standing around in the snow. There were also several strange carts that she thought looked familiar but she couldn't place where she's seen them or what they were.

"What are those things?" Neo pointed the strange carts.

"They're sleighs," Law said.

"Sleighs…now I know I've heard of them before," Neo said. She looked up at the sky as if it would help her remember. "Where was it?"

"One of your books has a horse drawn sleigh illustrated in its pages," Law said.

"That's where I've seen it before!" Neo dropped her eyes back down to Law. "That would have driven me nuts if you hadn't reminded me of it! Thanks, Law!"

"No problem." He leaned over and kissed her hair then walked off without her. After a few steps, he turned back and smirked at her. "You would have remembered if you didn't have so many books."

"Yeah, I guess I do-Hey!" Neo protested. She ran after him when he started walking again. "I do not have too many books!"

"You do too," Law said, picking up his pace. With his long legs, and her discomfort from wearing her boots, he was easily out pacing her.

"Law! You come back here right this second!" Neo demanded.

"Not happening!" Law said, breaking into a jog.

"Law!" Neo summoned her wind crystals. The wind started blowing upon her command. She swirled it around, picking up some of snow then moving it so she could trap Law within its walls. Before he could form a Room, she dumped the snow on top of him. Knowing he would warp out of her attack, she carefully watched him. Sensing the right moment to trap him in her winds again. The second he warped, she was ready and trapped him. Turning him upside down, she brought him back over to her. She narrowed her eyebrows, yet was smiling. "You are such a bad boy. You hurt my feelings by saying I had too many books."

"Yeah, you look really hurt." Law smirked. "You practically agreed with me."

"You caught me off guard," Neo said, flicking his nose.

"Then you should pay more attention to what's going on around you," Law said.

Neo huffed and planted her hands on her hips. "We're on our _honeymoon_ , Law. I'm not supposed to be looking out for tricks and traps. I'm supposed to be completely focused on _you_. And you're suppose to be completely focused on _me_."

"I am," Law said. "But that doesn't mean I can't train you when I feel like it."

"Law," Neo said. "We're not supposed to train on our honeymoon."

"Okay, okay," Law said. "You're correct. I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself. Forgive me?"  
"I don't know," Neo said. "You know how much I love my books."

"But you love me more," Law said. "You're not angry anyway."

"No, I'm not," Neo said. She leaned over and captured his lips. "You're forgiven. But no more tricks and no more training."

"Promise," Law said.

"Good boy," Neo said, turning him back to his feet. "Now why exactly are we here?

"I though you would have put it together by now," Law said, straightening out his coat and hat.

Neo looked around. Slowly, she began to, finally, put it together. She gasped. Bringing her eyes back to Law, she threw her arms around him. "Law! We're going on a sleigh ride, aren't we?!"

"We are," Law said, wrapping his arms around her.

"This is so great!" Neo squealed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over to a couple of the horses that walked closer to the fence to check her out. She released him and started petting the horses. "Hello, babies. How are you doing? That's good. You're all so cute! Do you like your jobs here? That's good to hear. It's fun, huh? I'm sure it is."

Law watched her contently until he caught movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to fine an old man walking over to them with a smile.

"So you're the honeymooners," the old man said.

"We are." Law nodded.

"I see," the old man said, watching Neo and stroking his white and grey speckled beard. "You have fine young wife. Though she looks a little young to be married."

"She's twenty two," Law said with a light frown.

"Oh? Well, she is surely going to age gracefully," the old man said. "Your sleigh is being pulled around as we speak. And all of your requests have been fulfilled as requested. You can take off whenever you feel like it." He looked at Neo questioningly. "Or whenever your wife decides she's had enough talking with my horses. Which ever happens to come first."

"Really? You've pulled that many sleighs?" Neo asked, completely oblivious to the old man giving her a funny look for talking to the horses.

"Thank you," Law said, handing the man his money. "She just really loves animals."

"I can see that. Well, have a nice ride," the old man said before walking off, grumbling about Neo. "Such a strange girl. Speaking as if she can understand animals. Back in my day we never did such a thing."

Law couldn't help but chuckle at the old man since he knew that older Elementals spoke to animals 'back in their day'. Still he let it go. He knew some would always find Neo talking to animals a bit strange. He didn't care as long as they didn't hurt her. He turned his attention back to her. Patiently watching, and enjoying her childlike love of talking to animals, while they waited for their sleigh to come over to them. A few minutes later, a young man guided their sleigh over to them.

"Hello," he said. "My name is Abram. I'll be your driver for today. I am ready when you are."

Law nodded at the man then turned back to Neo. He hated to pull her away when he knew she was already having so much fun, but they needed to get going. "All right, Neo. You've played enough. We really need to get going now."

"Oh." Neo pouted, but said her goodbyes and walked over to Law. They walked up to the black and red sleigh where Law held out his hand for her and helped her into it. "Thank you, Law. You're so sweet."

Once she was safely inside, Law climbed up with her. They sat down and pulled the waiting blanket over them.

"You two ready?" Abram asked.

"Yes," Law replied.

"Then off we go," Abram said. With a flick of his wrists, the reins tapped against the horse and they were off.

"Oh, he's pulling the sleigh so easily," Neo said, leaning over the side. "Don't wear yourself out for our sake, horsey."

Law chuckled when the driver tossed a confusing glance over his shoulder at his love. "She just really loves animals."

"I can tell," Abram said before turning around.

"This is so amazing!" Neo wrapped her arms around Law's. "Thanks, Law!"

"Don't get too excited yet," Law said. "We're just starting."

"There's more?" Neo asked.

"There is," Law said with a nod.

"What is it?" Neo asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see," Law said. "I don't want to ruin the surprise, but we're going to do something that you've really wanted to do before."

"Something that I've wanted to do before?" Neo asked, cocking her head. "Can't you give me a better clue than that?"  
"You have all the clues you need," Law said. He pulled her closer to his side and kissed her hair. "For now you just sit back and enjoy the ride with me."

"Okay. I can do that," Neo said despite still remaining very excited about the surprises Law had in store for her. Her eyes roamed over the landscape, enjoying the beauty of the snow covered land while she could. After about fifteen minutes of watching the world around her, she got cold and turned her attention to Law, snuggling into his warmth. "I'm so cold!"

"Summon your fire crystals if you get too cold," Law said. He held his arms firmly around her, holding her close to his warmth as much as he possible could. His hand found its way to her stomach. "I don't want you two getting sick."

"We'll be fine, love," Neo said, tilting her eyes up to him. "We have the best doctor with us after all."

"Yes, you do." Law leaned down and captured her lips. Slowly stroking his warm tongue over her dark cavern when she parted her lips for him.

"Mmm, now that's the perfect way to warm up," Neo said once they parted. Both panting for air as their warm breathes mixed in with the cold weather around them. She snuggled back into his chest, enjoying the ride. Tucked up against Law's warmth and the smoothness of the ride started to lull her asleep. Just as she was about to completely fall asleep, she sensed Topaz near by. "Hm? It's Topaz. And a wind Elemental. What're they doing way out here? Are we meeting up with her?"

"Not really," Law said. "She and Blackleg have a purpose for being out here, but they're not staying."

"Sanji's here too?" Neo leaned over the side again, trying to spot their friends. But she didn't see them. Instead she saw something else, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. She squinted at it as they drew closer. Finally, the thing came close enough for her to see it. There was a blanket spread out on the ground with a picnic basket, a thermos, and a couple candles placed under a tree. "Law, that's…we're going to…"

"That's correct, love," Law said. "We're having a picnic in the snow."

"Oh, my! Law!" Neo squealed. She dove into his arms and hugged him. "I love you so much! You're just the best ever! I can't believe you actually planned this out! When did you plan this out?!"

"I actually booked the sleigh ride shortly after arriving on the island," Law said. "I told you about the brochures."

"I never thought much about that," Neo said.

"Then all I had to do was relay a message to Blackleg and Topaz," Law said. "And I did that when Jean Bart came to our room earlier. Since this island is practically covered with Elementals it wasn't hard for him to find them. He just asked a couple wind Elementals to search for them."

"You are so amazing, Law!" Neo said.

A short few seconds later, the sleigh slowed down to a stop. Law got off first then held up his hand for Neo. She gladly took it and allowed him to help her down.

"I'll be back in a little while," Abram said before taking off.

"They do this kind of thing?" Neo asked while watching the sleigh pull away from them and disappear around a curve.

"For an added fee," Law said.

"Law, you shouldn't have," Neo said. "You've already done enough by-"

"Hush." Law placed his finger over her lips. "I don't want to hear anymore worry about money. We have it to spend on this. And I want to do it. Understand?"

Neo nodded, he removed his finger. "I'm sorry for still worrying about money. This really is one of the sweetest things you have even done. And I really do love you for it."

"It's all right, love. I know it's just normal for you to worry," Law said. "I want you to enjoy the rest of our time here without worrying about the money."

"Okay, I'll try," Neo said.

"That's my girl." Law pecked her lips. He took her hand and led her over to the blanket.

Once they started taking out the food inside, she finally understood Sanji and Topaz's roles in this set up. She said, "You had Sanji cook us a special meal and Topaz came with him to keep the food and hot chocolate hot until we got here."

"That's correct." Law nodded. "And I'm sure they had a wind Elemental to fly them here and away."

"Yeah, I can't sense them near by anymore," Neo said. She scanned her eyes over the woods around them. Her eyes then dropped down to the food when the delicious aroma from the chicken got her mouth watering. She ripped piece of the baked chicken off and popped it into her mouth. "So yummy! Here!"

Law parted his lips when she brought a piece of chicken to his lips. "It is good. But your food will always be better."

"You're so sweet." Neo pecked his lips before turning her attention back to the food. She picked through it. Taking small bites of everything while feeding Law as well. As she did that, Law opened the thermos and poured them some hot chocolate into two mugs.

"Here's to a long and healthy marriage and the birth of a healthy baby," Law said.

"And for the safety of our crew and the Straw Hats," Neo added. They clanked their cups together before drinking. "So yummy. And it's the perfect amount of sugar. Though the chocolate might be too much if I drink a lot of it."

"I doubt you'll drink a lot," Law said.

"You're correct," Neo said. She held up her free hand when she sensed a bird flying towards them. It landed on her finger, chirping a lovely song before flying off again. Soon more animals approached to get a pet or a nibble of food from the Elemental princess.

"This was suppose to be a picnic for two," Law said, laying down on his side.

"Sorry," Neo said. "They're just so cute. But I can tell them to leave if you want."

"No, don't do that," Law said, propped up on his elbow. "I'm enjoying watching you take care of them."

And she did. She spent a little time with them before giving her full attention back to Law. They snuggled together in their private winter wonderland until the crunching of the horse's hooves on the snow alerted them to their ride's return. They packed everything back into the basket for Sanji and Topaz to retrieve later and climb back into the sleigh. An hour later, they arrive back at the sleigh rental sight.

From there they took another path that was meant for walking. Other couples were walking around as well. Some kids and teenagers were roaming the snowy path tossing snowballs at each other or building snowmen. Neo couldn't help but be over taken by a desire to build snowmen. It wasn't something she got to do very often. So they stopped so she could enjoy playing in the snow for a while.

Law smiled as he relaxed against a near by tree with his arms crossed. Contently, he watched Neo putting the finishing touches on her latest snowman and enjoying her childlike enjoyment of playing in the snow. She was elegantly constructing a snow bear inspired by Bepo. He had helped her roll the bottom and middle part of the snow 'bear' since she refused to use her magic.

"I want to do this the human way," she had told him.

Now she was rounding smaller snowballs for the ears of her snow 'bear'. She ran her hands over the ears, carving out the inside of them before stepping back. She placed her hands on her hips as she admired her work. "So what do you think? Does it look like Bepo or not?"

"I think you've captured him quite well," Law said as he walked over to her. He put his arms around her waist and rested his chin on top of her head. He eyed the snow sculpture. While it wasn't an exact copy of Bepo, and one arm was wider than the other, it was very close to the bear. "I think Bepo would be honored that you choose to construct him out of snow."

"I think he makes a great snowman. Don't you think so?" Neo asked as she crossed her arms over his. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled.

"He does." Law nodded.

"So what are we going to do now?" Neo asked.

"How about we go for a walk?" Law replied.

"Sounds like fun." Neo adjusted the collar of her coat. She then wrapped her arms around Law's when he shifted away from her.

He shoved his hands in his pockets as they starting strolled along the snowy path. Occasionally they would return a greeting when someone else on the path greeted them. But mostly they just walked in silence, enjoying being with the other. Eventually they became the only two walking on the path as others disappeared to go do other things that the island resort provided.

The woods became very quiet. Neo perked up when she felt nature shifting oddly, alerting her to the presences of some sneaky friends and crewmates.

"What is it?" Law asked.

"We're being followed." Neo said. "I can sense Bepo, Chopper, and Luffy. They're carrying snowballs. There are two others as well. So I'm pretty sure Shachi and Penguin are here too. I'm surprised it took them this long."

"Ambush, huh?" Law shot her a mischievous, secret grin. Knowing she would understand without him having to tell her what he wanted through their bond. "Tell me when they're about to throw them."

"All right. But you'd think they would be smarter than this. They know I can sense the snow moving, animals, and Luffy," Neo said as she carefully tracked the impending ambush. "They're moving closer. They're behind a couple trees to our left. Almost there. Okay, warp."

Upon her command, Law warped them away from their current location causing the snowballs to land on the already snowy path. Shachi growled as he and the rest of his party stepped out from their hiding spots. "That's cheating, Captain."

"Poor baby. You all should know better than to try and ambush me with an element," Neo said.

"It was Straw Hat's idea!" the Heart Pirates said while pointing accusingly at Luffy.

"Huh?! It was not!" Luffy said. "I just wanted to have a snowball fight with them! I said nothing about ambushing them!"

"You did too!" Shachi and Penguin said.

"I wanted nothing to do with this," Bepo said as he and Chopper walked over to the Heart captains.

"Me neither," Chopper said. "I just want to come see if you were all right. I was missing you."

"You're so cute," Neo said, picking the reindeer up in her arms. She lifted her eyes back up to find that Penguin and Shachi had gotten into a rolling tumble with Luffy.

"It was not my idea!" Luffy said.

"It was too!" Shachi said, pulling Luffy's cheeks out.

"Admit it!" Penguin said with Luffy's foot in his face. "Get your foot out of my face!"

"I should have known they would get into a fight," Bepo said.

"I'll cool them down," Neo said. She summoned her wind crystals and blew a wave of snow at them. She dumped the snow on top of them. Silence immediately washed through the trees.

"Hey! What did you do that for?!" the three asked when their heads popped up out of the snow.

"Well, you all wanted a snowball fight." Neo winked. "So, you're getting one."

Then several snowballs pelleted them in the face. They shook of the snow from their faces and look to find it was Law who had hit them. "Captain!"

"Tra!"

Law just shrugged while tossing a snowball up and down in his hand.

"When did you even make those?!" Penguin demanded before another snowball landed in his face. "You're gonna pay for that, Captain!" He jumped out of the snow. Bending down, he scooped up a handful of snow. He rolled it together while dodging behind a tree at another incoming snowball. He formed a couple more snowballs then jumped back out. He tossed them both at his captain, only to get them warped back in his face. "This isn't going to be a fair fight."

Luffy laughed. He launched several premade snowballs at Law. And just like Penguin, he got them all right back in the face. He fell backwards into the snow. "Ack!"

"Well, you all should have know better than to challenge us with a snowball fight." Neo said. Her senses kicked back in. She spun around to catch some snowballs in her winds that Shachi had thrown at her. She shot them back at her brother then used her winds to gather more snow up and rolled them into balls. "You still want to play, boys?!"

"Yes!" Shachi, Penguin, and Luffy shouted.

"Then you're on!" Neo said.

"I'm with Neo!" Chopper announced.

"Traitor!" Shachi, Penguin, and Luffy said.

"I am not!" Chopper snapped. "I didn't want to do this in the first place!"

"Bring it on!" Neo launched the snowballs at the three. They scattered and dodged behind trees to form their own snowballs to throw.

…

Law chuckled humorously as he crossed his arms and leaned back against a tree while Bepo walked over to him. He had no intention of getting more involved in this fight. He was content now in just watched them run around like the children he knew they were.

"So how's it going, Captain?" Bepo asked. "Are you two enjoying your honeymoon?"  
"We are," Law said. "Until a few certain pirates decided to show up."

"I'm sorry." Bepo bowed his head.

"Don't worry about it," Law said, looking at his navigator. "I know Neo's happy to see you all. I'm surprised she's actually lasted this long in not seeing you all."

"Gum Gum!" Luffy's voice rang out. "Snowball Barrage!"

Law turned back to the snowball fight almost a few seconds too late. A large barrage of snowballs was flying towards him and Bepo. The bear beside him screamed, flailing his arms and legs wildly as he spread out his Room again. He then easily warped away the attack, but not to the one who threw them. He was too caught off guard to use them in that way. His eyes flew over to Luffy who was laughing wildly. He narrowed his eyebrows and took a couple steps towards the rubber man. He stopped when several other snowballs pelleted him in the back. He whipped around to see his own two subordinates and Neo with guilty grins on their faces. Neo, who had Chopper holding onto her back, pelted him on the chest with three snowballs. She tossed a snowball up in her hand and caught it. He growled as he brushed off the snow and took after her. "You're going to pay for that."

"Sure I am." Neo tossed the remaining snowball in her hand at him.

He easily caught it, but before he could do anything else several other snowballs, from multiple locations, hit him.

"What?!" Bepo shrieked. "How could you hit the captain like that?! What were you all thinking?!"

"Nice!" Neo said. "Good job, guys!"

"I honestly didn't think that would work," Chopper said.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered, clapping his hands over his head. "Good job! Let's do it again!"

"I don't believe that actually worked," Penguin said. "We actually hit the captain! Our captain!" He suddenly felt dizzy. " _Our captain!_ "

"I don't believe we actually did that," Shachi stated, he felt the color drain from his face while he looked at a snowball in his hand. He then looked back over at his captain.

Law was brushing off the snow and grumbling under his breath about it. And probably already planning his revenge on them in the near or distant future. He looked at Neo with a frown. "Why did you do that?"  
"Hm? Oh, consider it revenge for what you did to me earlier," Neo said with a shrug. "Besides you should have been paying closer attention to us."

"You said no more training exercises," Law said.

"This wasn't training. It was fun. So come on, my lover. Have some fun with us," Neo called. She blinked in slight shock when Law suddenly warped from his current location. She squeaked in surprise when Law's presence appeared behind her suddenly.

"Uh oh!" Chopper said, jumping down from her back. "I think I should move it!"

Neo attempted to move away from Law, but he locked one arm around her waist.

"Oh, I will have fun soon enough. But, unfortunately, my _real_ _revenge_ on you will have to wait until we're alone because I don't want another soul to hear the delicious moans that I'm going to cause you later," Law whispered in her ear.

Neo shivered at his warm breath tickling her ear as he spoke, his words already melting her inside and out. She wanted to go back to the room right that second and receive her punishment. But, sadly, Law wasn't done just yet.

"For now, you must receive some punished for hitting me and going along with this plan." Law licked her ear teasingly. He smiled when she shivered again underneath his touch. He knew she wanted to receive his _threat_ on punishing her right this second. He could feel it building up in her body. But he wasn't going to let her have it. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction, at least not yet.

"Going along with the plan? _I_ created the plan," Neo admitted.

"Then you really must be punished," Law said. Without another word, he shoved his hand down the back of her coat and her shirt collars where he crumbled the snowball he had caught down her warm skin.

"Eek! Law!" Neo shrieked from the cold snow melting on her warm, or use to be warm, skin. When he let her go, she tried to shake the snow out of her clothes in a strange little dance. "That's just so cold! In more ways than one!"

"That's what you get for treating me the way you did." Law turned to the others who went along with her plan. "Now it's your turn."

"Ah!" Shachi and Penguin screamed as they ran around the forest in a panic.

"Yeah! It's fun time!" Luffy yelled out. He bent down and gathered up snow for more snowballs. This time, he threw them at all of the pirates instead of just one particular target. Winding up his arms, he pitched them into the air. "Gum Gum Snowball War! The battle is on!"

"Ah!" Bepo yelled before a snowball hit him in the face. Shaking it off, he worked together a snowball of his own then threw it at Luffy. "You'll pay for that, Straw Hat!"

"Yeah! Party time!" Luffy yelled.

"Here it comes!" Chopper said, launching his own snowball at Shachi.

Soon snowballs were flying all over the place. The area almost looked like a blizzard of snowballs being hurled back and forth. It developed into a full blown snowball war. Even some other guests, who were out for a peaceful stroll in the supposed to be quiet setting of the snowy wonderland, joined the pirates in their snowball war.

Neo, feeling slightly guilty from the advantage she had over the humans, especially the children, only used one wind crystal to keep snowballs from hitting her stomach and threw snowballs the regular way. She loved this. She loved the enjoyment of how this simple little game made everyone happy. She loved how she was included in this game with complete and total strangers. No one was calling her a freak or a monster. She was just like everyone else. She never thought she would ever feel so happy and part of the world with strangers around. And she had Law to thank for all of this. He was the only one who could have ever gotten her to this point.

…

Law also gave up using his Devil Fruit for the traditional way of throwing snowballs. He had to admit to himself that he was really enjoying this. He felt like a kid again. He felt an incredible sense of freedom. It has been so long since he's felt so free and carefree. And he knew all of this was possible because of Neo. He was the only one who could get him to relax like this. She would always be the only one for him.

…

"That was great," Penguin exclaimed as he dropped into the snowy blanket. His chest heaved up and down while he tried to regain his breath.

"That was so much fun!" Luffy declared. "We're going to have to get the rest of the crews to come here and fight later!"

"How can you think of another snowball war right now?" Bepo asked. He was laid out on his stomach, his tongue hanging out of his mouth in complete exhaustion.

Shachi plopped down beside him and leaned back against his hands. "I don't even want to see another snowball for at least a month."

"I have to say I agree," Chopper said sitting beside Neo. "That was so exhausting. I need a nap now."

Neo ran her eyes over her family and friends. Everyone's skin was now a rosy red from all of the running around they done and from the cold weather. She figured her skin was red now too. She also felt like taking a nap soon. Before she could suggest that, a sneeze exited her nose. She shivered from the already cold weather growing colder as the sun began to lower behind the trees.

Law walked over to her, helped her off the ground, and put his arms around her, using his body heat to try and warm her up back up as he pressed her back into his chest. "The sun is starting to set. We really should get you inside before you get sick. You've been out here long enough."

"Mhmm." Neo leaned tiredly against him.

"Good plan!" Luffy said. He sat up, curled his feet underneath him, and grabbed his ankles. "I'm hungry and want some hot chocolate!"

"I believe there are some log cabins near by," Chopper said, pointing down the path that they were on. "They're open for the public to use since there's also a skating pond near them. They sell snacks and drinks for visitors."

"Great!" Luffy cried. He jumped up and started running down the path. Several feet down it he paused and turned back to them. He jogged in place while calling back for them. "Come on! Let's eat!"

"How can he possibly have so much energy after all of that?" Bepo asked as he and his two crewmates pulled themselves off the ground.

"I guess he gets all of his energy from all of the food he eats," Chopper said.

"We better not let him get too far ahead of us," Penguin said.

The group mumbled in agreement before following after the excited captain. Their walk only took them two minutes. Soon they broke out of the snowy forest path and came upon several log cabins. Several people were running around outside, making snowmen or snow angels, just talking, and some were skating around on the frozen pond near by.

"Wow!" Neo exclaimed as she watched a girl spin very fast in a circle and then a small group fall on the ice. "That girl's amazing! And I decided I do not want to do that!"

"Okay, we won't," Law said.

"You two were going to go skating?" Penguin asked, slightly panicked.

"Not really," Law said. "I wanted to but I didn't want to because of our baby. But we're not going to do it. So don't worry."

"That's great," Penguin said with a huge sigh of relief.

"Come on! What are you waiting for?!" Luffy asked from the door of one of the log cabins.

They walked up the small steps. Luffy entered before them, causing a small bell to ring from the door hitting it. They stepped inside, instantly greeted by the warm fire blazing in the large fireplace to their left. In the middle of the room was a little cafe. Scattered through the room were several couches, cushioned chairs, and rectangular coffee tables. A few other guests were peppered throughout the room, chatting and sipping on their preferred hot beverage.

The pirates wondered up to the café, placing their orders before turning to head for the empty seats near the fire where Neo immediately kicked of her boots while she, Law, and Chopper claimed the couch. Luffy and Bepo sat on the floor while Shachi and Penguin sat in two large armchairs. Luffy, Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin quickly downed their drinks and sandwiches then fell asleep even quicker. Chopper chewed on his own sandwich at a slower place, making conversation with Neo while she shared some spicy nachos with Law. He said, "It was really fun today, wasn't it?"

"It sure was." Neo nodded. "I'm glad I got to see you all over here."

"We're glad too," Chopper said before yawning. He then snuggled up to Neo's side and fell asleep.

"Our babies have really worn themselves out today," Neo said affectionately as she scanned her eyes over the sleeping crews before her. With Chopper on her left side, she leaned into Law's side with his arm around her shoulders. Her eyes started to drift closed.

"And it looks like my baby has worn herself out as well," Law said.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Neo said. "I really wanted to just snuggle and talk with you right now."

"Don't worry about it," Law said. "I want you rested up for later tonight."

"Hm?" Neo tilted her eyes to him.

"We're going on a romantic dinner date," Law said, locking eyes with her. He smiled when her eyes glittered with happiness. "So you just rest now. We can snuggle and talk later."

"Okay. I don't feel so guilty then," Neo said with a yawn. She rested her head onto his shoulder and started falling asleep. "And I can finally show you my other surprise."

"I can't wait," Law whispered to her. He took her tea mug from her hand and placed it on the table beside him. He then closed his own eyes, enjoying the peaceful setting of the fire warmed cabin and his love in his arms.

…

"See you guys later!" Neo waved to her crew and the Straw Hats as they separated from having just come back to the warm side of the island.

"Bye, Neo!" Chopper and Luffy waved.

"Have fun tonight!" Penguin said.

"See you later!" Shachi said.

"Bye!" Bepo added.

Neo and Law turned towards their hotel. With their coats slung over Law's arm, they entered the build and went immediately to their room where they got ready for their dinner date. When stepping into the room, she snatched up her black dress then paused. "What time's our dinner reservation?"

"It's at seven," Law said. "We have an hour to get ready."

"I should probably take a shower," Neo said. "Despite being on the cold side of the island I still sweated a bit during our snowball war."

"Hurry up then," Law said, tossing their coats over the back of the chair. "I'll take one once you're finished."

"Rats," Neo said, snapping her fingers. "I was hoping you'd join me."

"You know why I can't," Law said.

"I know." Neo pecked his lips then walked towards the bathroom. "I'll try not to take too long."

And she tried her best to hold to her word. But her aching feet loved behind in the water so much that she stayed in it for twenty minutes. Once out, she dried herself off with her crystals while staring at the bag holding her black dress. She debated on putting it on here and now or waiting for Law to take his shower and put it on while he was doing that. It only took a few seconds to decide to let Law have the bathroom. She already took longer than she wanted. So she wrapped a towel around herself, picked up the back holding her dress, and left the bathroom. "Sorry for taking so long."

"Don't worry about it," Law said passing her with his own bag in his hand. "I won't be long."

"Okay," Neo said. Her eyes locked curiously on the bag in his hand. But before she could ask about it, the door to the bathroom closed. She shrugged. She would surely find out what was inside of it at some point. She had her own surprise to get to. She sat her bag on the bed and stripped herself of her towel then dressed herself. When her dress was snuggly on her body, she picked up her hairbrush and smoothed out her hair. After that she laid down on the bed to wait for Law to finished up his shower and getting dressed. Her feet were still sore from having wearing her boots pretty much all day, so she summoned her solar crystal to heal them since she was going to have to wear her sandals to dinner. She knew she could kick off her sandals while they ate. She just wanted to enjoy being with Law and she couldn't do that if her feet were throbbing.

Then before she knew it, Law was stepping out of the bathroom dressed in the tux he wore at their wedding and no hat. Neo gasped and sat up on the bed. "That's…you wore that for…"

"Yes, love," Law said walking over to her. He took her hand and pulled her off the bed. "I wore this for our wedding."

"And you're wearing it on our honeymoon," Neo said, tears dripping from her eyes. "I'm crying now. This is just too sweet."

Law chuckled. Cupping her face, he pressed his lips to her forehead and brushed away her tears with his thumbs. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." Neo nodded. She slipped into her sandals then linked her arm with Law's.

Their walk to the restaurant was filling with laughter and chatter from the people around them. Set behind their hotel, the restaurant was a five minute walk. And it was far enough away from the theme park that they didn't have to listen to the roller coasters rumbles. Of course the wind blowing towards them also pushed the noise away. The wind bringing smells of fish and local spices from all of the restaurants. It made Neo's stomach rumble and her mouth water in anticipation while distracting her brain from the Elementals inside of the building.

"Here we are," Law said, opening the door to a fancy looking building. It was just as fancy inside with its pure white table clothes, shimmering wine glasses, polished silver, and very nicely dressed guests. He guided her up to a man standing behind a small podium. "Trafalgar."

"Ah, yes, the Trafalgar party," he said. He grabbed two menus from inside of the podium. "Please, follow me to your seats."

They did. And it was at the point Neo sensed all of the Elementals in the building. Some were in the back where the kitchen was probably located while some were dinning here. She could feel their eyes on her, whispering about her being here eating in the same restaurant they were. It made her nervous and she felt like she was being put on the spot.

"Here you go," the man said, bring Neo out of her thoughts.

Law pulled out her chair for her. She sat down, thanking him. "Thanks, Law."

"Your waiter will be here in a minute," the man said as he placed their menu down on the table and walked away.

"I didn't realize so many Elementals would be here," Neo whispered. "There's over twenty."

"Just ignore them," Law said, picking up his menu. "They won't bother us."

"Yeah." Neo nodded and picked up her menu. She ran her hungry eyes over the choices. The majority of the options were seafood related. "I think the blackened salmon sounds really good. But the tilapia with angel hair noodles also sounds really good. What do you think, Law?"

"I think they sound great as well," Law said. "How about we order them and pick off of each other's plates?"

"That would be wonderful," Neo said, slipping her feet out of her sandals.

"Good evening," a young man said when he stepped up to their table. "My name is Benson. I will be your waiter for this evening. Would you two like some fine wine with your meal?"

"No!" Neo gasped, earning a look of confusion from the waiter. "I'm sorry. I'm just a bit nervous. I can't drink alcohol. It's a family condition. And I'm pregnant."

"Oh, congratulates on your baby. That's so exciting," Benson said. "What would you like to drink then?"

"Thank you," Neo said. "I'd like some sweet tea, if it's not too sweet."

"I don't believe it's too sweet. Our chiefs here don't like to load down our food and drinks with sugar," Benson said, scribbling her drink down in his notebook.

 _'Elementals must run or own this place.'_ Neo thought to Law.

"And what would you like, sir?" Benson turned to Law.

"I'll have sweet tea as well," Law said.

"All right," Benson said. "Would you two like a few minutes to look over our menu?"

"No, we're ready now," Law said. "I'd like the tilapia with angel hair noodles."

"And I'd like the blackened salmon," Neo said.

"Very well," Benson said, scribbling down their orders. "I will put this in and be right back with your drinks."

Neo and Law engaged in pleasant conversation while waiting for their drinks and meal to come. First came their drinks and the steaming rolls that came with their meals. She bite back a giggle when Law glaring harshly at the rolls. Then came their meals, hot and ready to eat. It didn't take long for either of them to come. And she knew that was because of the Elementals. She sensed them using their crystals and got the feeling they pushed their order ahead of everyone else's because she was their royal. She felt guilty for that. She didn't want to be favored over anyone else, but she knew they'd do it despite what she wanted. So she forced it out of her head and enjoyed her meal with Law. Once they were about done with their meal, Benson came over with two pieces of complementary cake. He said it was a gift from the chef and, despite his cheery expression, his eyes showed he was confused at why the chef was doing this. But he didn't question it as he sat the cakes down and walked off.

Neo really wished they didn't do this. She wasn't in the mood for cake, since she had so much sweet stuff to drink today already, but she managed to finish about half of it. Law finished the rest so it wouldn't go to waste. That made her feel better.

And just as Law was finishing up the last bit of the cake, two people walked over to them, one of them a man with very familiar looking brown hair and eyes but with an older face. Neo and Law exchanged glances upon feeling the hostile intent from the man coming towards them. _'Neo, let me handle this.'_

Neo nodded.

The woman, a tall blacked hair woman with curves to spare, pointed right at Neo. She said, "That's _her_! She's the one who attacked your brother at the pool! I saw her with my own eyes! She used some kind of freaky crystals!" Her finger moved to Law. "And _he's_ the one who broke your brother's arm."

Law's eyebrows twitched at the woman using the word freak.

"I will never understand your brother's taste in women," the woman said, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. "He always goes after the young ones. She's nothing but a child."

"So you two are the ones who humiliated and hurt my brother. Well, you're going to pay for what you did." The man pulled out a gun. Women screamed as dishes were dropped and people ducked and ran for cover. He pulled back on the trigger. "Now die!"

The man's gun disappeared. It was replaced with a flower.

"What the heck did you just do?!" the woman shrieked.

"I just warped his gun into a vase where that flower came from," Law said, standing up, his eyes glinting with light from his fury. "Only weak men pull a gun on people who did nothing wrong."

The man's face burned red. "Do you peons even know who I am?!"

"I don't care," Law said.

"I'm Brandon Fairweather!" Brandon said. "I have several casinos all over the New World! The Celestial Dragons even commissioned me to build them their own personal casino! I'm one of the richest men in the world!"

"So what?" Law cocked his head to the side. "I'm a wanted pirate. And so is my wife. Together we have a combined bounty of nine hundred million."

"Y-you're pirates?" The woman, now white in the face took a step back.

"We are," Neo said. "And you really shouldn't have pulled a gun on me. My husband and people do not like it when people threaten me."

Law bolted forward. He planted his fist right on the guy's nose, instantly breaking it. He then grabbed the man's arm and broke it just like he broke his brother's arm. Pulling the man to his face, he hissed, "Don't you _ever_ threaten her again. If you do, I will kill you."

"Princess," an earth Elemental said, rushing over to them.

Neo looked up to the Elemental. She could tell by the way she was dressed that she was a cook here, probably the head chief.

"We'll take it from here," she said. She waved to some Elementals standing near by. "I'm sorry, _Mr._ Fairweather. But you and your lady friend are no longer welcome here." The Elementals she waved to reached them. "Escort these two out of the building."

They nodded then grabbed the two and pulled them towards the door.

"I am very sorry, Princess," the cook said. "They will not bother you again. Are you injured? Would you like me to call a healer for you?"

"No, that's quite already. I'm fine," Neo said, her royal tone coming out instantly. She slipped her shoes back on and stood up. "Thank you for your assistance."

"Are you sure there's nothing we can do for you?" she asked, worry filling her green eyes.

"I assure you we are just fine," Neo said. "We're use to dealing with people like that. We are pirates after all."

"Very well then. But your meals are on the house," she said.

"That's not necessary," Neo said.

"Of course it is," she said. "We guarantee a good time here at our restaurant."

"And we had it," Neo said. "That man and his girl didn't really ruin anything."

"I still insist your meals be on the house," she said.

"Very well," Neo said, noticing she wasn't going to talk her way out of this.

"Would there be anything else you would like?" she asked. "Anything at all? We would be more than happy to get it for you."

"No, we have had plenty," Neo said. "Thank you very much for the meal and dessert. It was very delicious."

"Oh, thank you, Princess!" Her face flushed. "It's an honor to hear that from you! Now, if you will please excuse me. I really need to get back to the kitchen."

"Yes, of course," Neo said.

The woman bowed at her hips before rushing off into the kitchen.

"Well, that was fun," Neo said. "Are we leaving now?"

"Yes." Law nodded.

"Can we go for a walk?" Neo asked as they exited the building.

"You want to go for a walk?" Law asked.

"Yeah. It such a nice night," Neo said. "The air is so warm. I just feel like being outside."

"Very well then," Law said, pulling her towards the beach.

Once their shoes hit the sand, Neo took off her sandals. Holding them in her hand by the straps, she wiggled her toes in the warm sand and continued walking with her other hand firmly in Law's. Their walk was a peaceful one with only the waves and distant sounds of the theme park to accompany them.

When a band started playing, Law pulled Neo closer to him. He placed his hands on her hips, pulling her along in a slow dance.

Neo smiled. She dropped her sandals on the ground and slipped her arms around his neck. "You know you look very handsome in that tux. It really is a rare treat to see you dressed up like this."

"It's just as rare to see you in a dress like that," Law said, running his eyes over the dress appraisingly. "It suits you. Though I'm missing you in white. While you look beautiful in anything, I think I prefer white on you. It just matches your innocence I guess."

"Well, I have to admit I'm missing you in your hat. I'm so use to you wearing it." Neo eyes looked up at his hatless head.

Law smirked. Forming a Room, he warped his hat to his hand. But instead of putting it on himself he placed it on her head instead and put his hand back on her hip. "I like my hat too. I like it even more when it's on you. You know, I'm going to have to remember to thank Nami and Nico."

"For what?" Neo questioned curiously.

"For making you buy that dress," Law said. He leaned down and placed his lips to her bare left shoulder. He continued to speak to her while placing kissed on her skin. "You look so incredible in it. It's really starting to drive me wild. How about we cut the night short, go back to the room, and you let me help you get out of that thing? I still have to punish you for hitting me with those snowballs."

"Or," Neo fiddled with his goatee with a smile, "we could just stay right here. It's such a nice night. Why should we spend it in a stuffy room?"

"Are you really challenging me?" Law teased.

"I might be doing just that. If I were, what would you do about it, pirate boy? Are you gonna punish me?" Neo teased back.

"Yes, I am," Law chuckled, leaning down to capture her lips. He slipped his tongue inside of her, tangling them together in a blissful kiss that caused them both to hum. Just as he was about to form another Room to warp them back to their room, a scream from a very unwanted person interrupted them.

"Hey! Give us back our stuff!" Luffy growled.

"Straw Hat!" Law growled.

"What are they doing here?" Neo asked. She turned her eyes towards Luffy's voice. She, and Law, were shocked to see three boys running towards them with the Straw Hats, Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, and Topaz chasing after them. She couldn't help but noticed in the moonlit night that one of the three boys was carrying a bag, while another one was carrying Nami's weather staff and the third was carrying one of Zoro's swords.

"Come back here!" Luffy shouted as he threw out his fist and tried to grab the boys, but the boys proved too quick and dodged his attempt.

…

"How in the world did those kids get a hold of those weapons?" Neo asked.

"Who cares?" Law replied.

"We might as well help them," Neo said. She summoned her wind crystals.

…

"Ha ha! Losers!" one boy cried back over his shoulder.

"I can't believe you people are pirates! You're so pathetic!" Another boy laughed.

"Their bounties must be wrong!" The third one laughed as well. "How could they ha-Hey! What's going on?"

"How are we flying?!" the first boy asked.

"Neo!" Luffy waved. "Thanks for the help!"

"What's going on?" Neo asked when their friends joined them.

"Wow! Neo you look so beautiful!" Sanji said, dancing around with hearts floating from his body. "Nami, told us you brought a black dress and looked so cute in it. But her description doesn't do you justice! You are crazy beautiful!"

"These little brats stole from us," Nami said, snatching back her weather staff.

"Give me that!" Zoro growled as he grabbed his sword. "These swords aren't for children!"

"How could children steal from pirates?" Law asked.

"We were sitting down to dinner," Brook explained, taking his cane from the bag. "Right in the middle of it these three kids came up to put on a magic show. While we were distracted by one or two of them the other would slip around and dig through our pockets. They stole something from all of us."

"Why in the world would you kids steal things from pirates when you have an entire island to entertain you?" Chopper asked. "It doesn't make sense."

"Then you live here," one of the boys' answered. "You'd like it only for a while, but once you're done doing everything, a couple hundred dozen times, it gets really boring here. We needed something to entertain ourselves with."

"And robbing pirates was the best thing you could come up with?" Penguin asked. "Do you have any idea what could have happened to you all if you robbed the wrong pirates?"

"They wouldn't be as merciful as we are," Shachi said, reclaiming his hat from the bag. "They would kill you outright."

"Whatever! We're not scared of pirates!" the boys shouted.

"You should be!" Zoro said, giving them the scariest look he could manage.

"We're sorry!" the boys said, tears streaming down their cheeks.

"What are we going to do with them now?" Neo asked.

"Hey, what's that?" Chopper asked before anyone else could answer her question. He pointed at something behind Law and Neo.

The group turned their eyes to look at what he was pointing at. There was some kind of floating blob hovering just three feet off the ground. It was almost black in color with glowing blood red veins running through it.

"What is that thing?" Bepo asked.

Before anyone could answer him, part of the ball shot out at Neo. She wasn't quick enough to do anything, but Law was. He formed his Room and warped her away. The rest of the pirates jumped to keep from getting hit themselves.

"What the heck?! Is that thing after Neo?!" Franky asked, landing with a thud.

"We must protect her," Robin said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"How dare you go after such an innocent girl?!" Sanji hissed. "You're going to pay for that!"

Law warped his sword to him. "Neo, be careful. I don't like how it went after you."

"Yeah." Neo nodded. She released her wind on the three boys when they started wailing. She watched them carefully to make sure they got away safely.

"No one attacks Neo with us around! Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy charged at the blob. He shot out his fist only the have the blob easily dodge it by shifting itself into a crescent moon.

"Ah! What the heck did it just do?!" Usopp shrieked.

"It seems to be some kind of fluid creature," Zoro said. He jumped right at it, slicing his sword right through it. He smiled, thinking he got it, but then gasped when it slipped away from him unharmed. "What the heck?!"

The blob flew towards Neo again.

"You stay away from her! " Sanji said as he tried to kick the thing. He gritted his teeth and growl when the blob easily moved around his kick.

"That's definitely not a good sign," Usopp cried as his shots passed right through it as well.

Robin tried holding it down with multiple hands. It slipped through her fingers. "It didn't work."

"Franky! Fireball!" The blob flared up in its own personal bonfire. "Oh, yeah!"

The blob shot up, leaving the fire behind.

"Great! Now what do we do?!" Chopper said. "Nothing's working!"

"And why is it after Neo?!" Penguin asked. He, Shachi, and Bepo ran over to Neo. They stood in front of her, protecting her.

"No," Neo then whispered. Her body when cold as her heart raced when she realized her nightmare was coming true. It was different in several ways, but this was definitely the blob in her nightmare.

"Neo?" Law asked. "What is it?"

"It's my nightmare," Neo squeaked. Her breathing started coming in short raspy breaths. "You all are going to be taken away. Law…y-you're…that's…I can't…"

"Neo, calm down," Law said. "It's going to be fine."

"Yeah, we can handle this," Shachi said.

"I…can't…I…can't." Neo gasped for air.

The blob went for her again.

"No! Neo!" Chopper cried. "Someone do something!"

"This is bad! Very bad!" Brook said.

"Neo, I _order_ you to get a hold of yourself and fight!" Law said.

"Okay!" Neo snapped out of it. She summoned her wind and water crystals. Working them together, she trapped the blob in an ice cocoon and jammed several ice spikes into it.

"Yeah! She got it!" Usopp cheered.

The ice shattered.

"No! It's free!" Usopp said.

"Let me try!" Nami said bringing down a lightening bolt. "Thunderbolt Tempo!"

Topaz summoned her fire crystals. Joining Nami's lightening, she tried to fry the thing, but it escaped again. "Just great."

"Crap!" Zoro cursed when it didn't work either. "What do we have to do to stop this thing?"

"I want to know what that thing is," Bepo said. "It doesn't have a scent."

"Then it's some kind of machine?" Franky asked.

"I don't think so," Sanji said. "No machine can move like that."

"Neo! Move! It's behind you!" Penguin shouted.

"Huh?" Neo turned just barely getting a glimpse of the blob before someone grabbed her arm and threw her out of harms way. She wrapped her winds around her body, keeping herself from hitting the ground. Her eyes widened when the blob speared Penguin in his lower left stomach. "Penguin!"

"Ah!" Penguin cried out. In a faster pace than anyone could process, the blob split into multiple blobs. The one around Penguin wrapped around his body while its other parts shot over to the rest of the pirates.

"What is this thing trying to do? Kill us or capture us?" Sanji asked as they all struggled to try and get free of their blob traps.

When Chopper was about to be complete covered by it, he expanded into his human form. It didn't do any good. The blob continued up his body like the others. "It didn't work! Luffy! What do we do?!"

"I don't know! Gum Gum Balloon!" Luffy shouted as he ballooned up. The blob tightened around him, forcing the air out of him. "That didn't work either!"

"Law!" Neo screamed. The blob was working its way over her face. She reached out for him. Panic pounding in her head and her heart. She was getting ready to losing them all. Hot tears streamed from her face as their hands touched. "Law!"

"Neo, hold on!" Law cried as he tried to keep hold on her hand as she started to slip from his grip.

"Law! Please! Don't let go! Don't leave me!" Neo begged.

Law's heart shattered in a million pieces at the fear in her eyes. He tried warping them, but it didn't work. The blobs somehow moved with them. He couldn't get them out of this. "Neo, be strong for me. If we are separated, we _will_ find our way back to you. Just wait for us. I _promise_ you everything will be fine. Please, just be strong. You can handle whatever happens."

"I'll try, Law," Neo said. More tears streamed down her face as Law was completely covered and her hand slipped from his. "La-"

Her voice cut off. The blobs completely absorbed them. And they were gone.

…

 **Author's Notes: I feel like this one was rushed. Just so you all know, I've started revisions on A Frozen Soul rewrite. I've only got Chapters 1-3 done for the moment, but they're started now.**

 **Daichi: They were on that day. They really didn't expect him to show up again.**

 **Apple Bloom: Thanks.**


	6. Pendulum

Pendulum

There was a cool chill to the air as the giant clock's pendulum swung back and forth in the dark room. A faint glow from the strange numbers on the clock face was the only light inside of the circular room. The tick was heavy and soothing to him. He sat in the very middle of the room in a narrow throne. His eyes locked onto the eight viewing mirrors floating in front of him. He watched the people in the mirrors contently. Some had already woken up while others were still fast asleep because of the journey coming here. He knew the journey would be a bit rough on them. After all they weren't use to traveling the way he was. And he had caught them by surprise. That didn't help much of anything.

Still, he had them. And now it was time for them to wake up and get to work. He smirked, leaning his cheek against his fist while his elbow rested on the arm of the narrow throne he sat upon. A deep rumble released from his throat. He laughed. He laughed at his own thoughts. Then he quickly stopped. His eyes fell upon the eighth viewing mirror. She was lying in the bed he had placed her in. He figured she would sleep for a while longer than the rest. He didn't mind. Turning back to the other viewing mirrors, he said, "It's time for you all to wake up now. We have a lot of work to do. Or, rather, _you all_ have lot of work to do."

…

Chopper groaned when he heard the strange voice speaking out to him, telling him to wake up. He opened his eyes. Starting up at a pale blue sky through a few leaves, he noticed hundreds of new smells and noises that didn't fit in with the island's resort atmosphere. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before adjusting his skewed hat. He glanced around at his surrounds. He asked, "Where am I?"

When his eyes landed on several multicolored tents, he blinked in confusion. "What? I don't remember those being on the island. Did a circus come to the resort while I was asleep?"

He continued to stare at the tents in a slight sleepy state. He watched as people started coming out of the tents. His heart jumped into his throat when his brain registered what he really saw. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he might still be asleep and was dreaming, then looked again. The people weren't what he was expecting. They didn't even look human. They all had dark green hair, cinnamon colored skin, and short pointy ears. Some were just walking away from the tents while others were juggling balls or other various objects, some were balancing on one wheeled bikes, some were leading strange animals around, some were doing cartwheels and other acrobatic moves.

Chopper's eyes slowly grew very large. A loud scream erupted from his little mouth. He jumped into the air, flailing wildly. He screamed, "Where the heck am I?! Who are these people?! Where's my crew?! Where's Neo?! Oh my gosh! Neo?! Neo, where are you?!"

He dashed around in the immediately area, looking and sniffing the air in desperation to find his friends. He couldn't find them anywhere. He couldn't even get a single trace of the Heart Pirates or his own crew scents.

"Hey, did you hear someone scream?" a voice asked.

Chopper gasped. He dashed behind a tree, his heart pounding hard in his little chest. _What do I think I'm doing? I shouldn't be screaming like that._

"No, I didn't hear anything. It was probably just a kid," another voice said. "Come on. We have to get ready for the next show."

"Yeah," the first voice said.

Chopper exhaled when the people didn't come looking for him. He said, "That was too close. I could have been captured. I wonder where I am. And why can't I smell the others?"

He peaked out from behind the tree and looked around carefully. The crowd he had seen had thinned out a lot. Only the performers were left standing around talking. He ducked back behind the tree again and scanned his eyes around his surroundings. The forest he was in looked just as strange as the people. The tree trunks were all various sized, but the limbs were all very thin with thin strands of what looked like hair hanging down from them. He sniffed the air, noticing the trees didn't smell like the trees he was use to. They smelled almost like sulfur to him.

"Where am I? Everything here just looks and smells so strange." He brought his eyes back down from the tree branches to find he wasn't alone anymore. Sitting in front of him was a spider monkey like creature. On its back was a pair of small light grey wings. The monkey's eyes were almond shaped and way larger than they should have been. They took up most of the monkey's head, making it look like it was born deformed. The pupils were vertical slits of black while the irises were a dull yellow. "Ah! What the heck are you?!"

The monkey's eyes started to glow as if it answering him, sort of. A beam of light poured out from the slit in its eyes formed a tiny looking man. Chopper blinked a couple times while inspecting the man before him. He wore a grey and purple vertical striped robe over his pastel blue skin. His hair was wild like a lion's mane only it was black in color. The longest parts of his hair hung over his shoulders and touched his chest. His ears were fish like, sharply pointing upwards. But it was the man's eyes that caused a chill to run down Chopper's spine. His eyes were the exact same as the strange monkey with him. Whatever was going on, the young pirate doctor was about to get his answer. And he knew he wasn't going to like it one bit. He hoped and prayed that his friends, wherever they were, were all safe from harm. He bit his lip when he remembered that Penguin had gotten injured in their battle. He wanted to cry. But he knew Penguin had basic first aid training. Plus the hit really didn't look all that bad. Or he hoped it wasn't bad. He swallowed hard, clenching a hold of the straps on his bag, waiting for the man to speak.

…

Sanji opened his eyes to the sweltering sun shining down on him from above. He sat up, wiped the sweat from his brow, and scanned the world around him. He kneaded his eyebrows and stood up. He walked closer to the edge of the roof he was standing on. He found he was no longer on the resort island. It didn't look like he was on an island at all. Or at least not the type of islands he was use to. There were several small islands floating over a dark hole. Most of the islands he could see held a single large tree with what appeared to be small apartment buildings built inside with normal enough looking porches while others held between two and seven different size buildings, all with similar porches or balconies. He also noticed that not a single one of them had any type of staircases to the ground floor of the floating islands. "Well, that's not a good thing. Who builds multiple floor buildings without staircases?"

He watched as someone walked out on one of the porches. The person seemed to hug a second person before unfurling wings. His eyes widened when that person jumped off the porch and took to the air with one graceful flap of their wings. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette and his lighter. Once lit, he breathed out the smoke and pocketed the lighter. He said, "Well, this definitely isn't normal. At least now I know why there are no stairs. Who needs them when you can fly?"

He stepped as close to the edge of the building he was standing on. Looking down he saw it was a building made of glass yet the light didn't reflect off of its walls at all. And more bird people were flying around the building, landing on its own balconies before entering into the strange building. He backed up from the edge. He looked around the roof but to found nothing but a strange looking spider monkey with wings and very large almond shaped eyes. He blew out another puff of smoke while the wind picked up, teasing his hair and the edges of his clothes. He said, "Well, I don't suppose you can tell me what's going on here, huh?"

The monkey didn't reply.

Sanji walked over to it. Bending down he poke the animal's cheek. His eyebrows lifted on his head when he found the animal didn't have any fur. He hummed in thought before standing back up. He shoved his hands into his pockets as his eyes remained locked onto the thing before him. He hummed. "I get the feeling you're not up here just to be a statue decoration. And I bet it's not just a coincident that you're also the only thing up here with me. I bet you have something to do with that attack back on the beach."

The monkey continued to remain silent.

Sanji bent back down to inspect the thing again. While eyeing it, he said, "I'm not really sure but you look like some kind of machine. If Franky was here he'd have you disassembled in seconds and could possibly tell me what you are." He poked the thing in annoyance. "So who's your boss? No way you're the thing that brought me here. And where are my friends? What's happened to them?"

He stood up and looked around again. He continued, "I think it's highly possible that they're not here with me, wherever here actually is. It wouldn't make sense to bring us all to the same place but put us on different rooftops." He looked back down at his companion. "I guess I have no choice but to sit around here and wait for the real person who took us to show up. And they better get here soon."

Sanji narrowed his eyebrows. His chest burned with anger. "Because whoever it is, I'm going to kill them for attacking my friends! Neo is going to be so freaked out when she realizes we're not around her! She doesn't need that in her condition!"

Sanji closed his eyes. He took in a couple slow breaths to get himself to relax. He knew he didn't need to get upset himself. That wouldn't do him or anyone else any good. He knew he needed to gather more information before trying to figure out a plan on how to get back to his friends. He laid down on the roof, putting his hands behind his head and stared up at the sky above him, his thoughts wondering where his friends could possibly be and how Neo was going to react to all of this. He hoped she was at least with someone that could keep her calm. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about it. Neo was strong. It might take her a while to adjust to things, assuming she was alone, but she would hold on until they all got there.

He turned back to the strange animal. He felt more anger at the thing while he stared at it. He really wanted to kick it into oblivion, into millions of tiny pieces, then flambé it, and then kick it as far away from him as he possible could. But he couldn't and didn't do that. He knew this _thing_ was an important clue or key that he needed to keep around. So with a resigned sigh, he stayed right there in the hot sun and waited for whomever his real enemy was to show up. Lying there, he let his mind wonder over the battle they had before he arrived here. _I wonder why that thing attacked Neo directly. And why did it wait to attack until after it was spotted? It clearly had the upper hand on us. It doesn't make any sense. There has to be more to this._

"It's time for you all to wake up now. We have a lot of work to do. Or, rather, _you all_ have lot of work to do," a voice said.

Sanji had no idea how much time had passed when he reopened his eyes. He really didn't even know when he had fallen asleep. The sun above didn't seem to have moved its position at all so it was no help in determining the time. But, looking to his left, he found that the winged monkey had moved closer to him. Sitting up, he said, "Well, the thing can move after all, unless someone else moved you closer. But I doubt that. I would have sensed their presence. I don't suppose you can at least speak?"

Sanji watched as the monkey's yellow eyes lit up. A beam of light shot out from its black slits, revealing a man was a grey and purple vertical striped robe. The cook inspected the man carefully, trying to determine if he was a fish from his pastel blue skin and ears or a lion with his black mane. Whichever the person was, he knew this was the one who had taken his friends. Lifting his finger, he poked at the man finding it to be some kind of projection. His eyebrows twitched in annoyance. "So, I assume that voice I just heard was yours? And you will be the one who brought us here, correct?"

…

Shachi woke up to find himself staring up into a pair of large reptile eyes. A startled scream passed over his lips. He bolted up from the ground. With his heart pounding in his chest, he looked to see that the reptile was digging into the sand. It disappeared beneath the top layer before he could figure out the type of reptile it really was. He exhaled then said, "At least it was as scared as I was. I don't think I could have handled a fight right now."

With a few more breaths, his heartbeat was back to normal. He then looked around to try and figure out where he was. Looking down to his left, he found Luffy was fast asleep beside him. His eyes lifted to the other side of Luffy. Sitting there on the sand was a spider monkey with wings, its yellow eyes starting off into space. He shook his head, unsure of why a monkey would be out in the desert like this. Brushing sweat off his chin, he scoffed. "Well, you're probably wondering why we're out here as well. So I guess that makes us even."

Ignoring the monkey, Shachi left the young captain alone for the moment. Pushing himself up to his feet, he walked to the edge of the shadow casing down on them from the large rock formation they were under. He ran his eyes over the dessert in front of him. He couldn't see anything but sand and steam. He walked around the rock, looking while hoping they were near a town or village or something that had people and water. But there was nothing but sand for what looked to be miles. With a defeated sigh, he walked back over to Luffy, wiping the gathering sweat from his forehead and neck away. He knelt down and placed his hand on the rubber man's arm. He said, "Hey, wake up. Come on, Straw Hat. We have a problem here. You need to wake up."

Luffy snored and rolled over onto his left side. Muttering in his sleep, he said, "Sanji, I want meat."

Shachi sighed. Pulling his hand back, he decided to just let his only pirate company sleep. He knew it really wouldn't do much good to wake Luffy up right now. Even if they wanted, they couldn't go looking for any of their friends or anyone for that matter. Being in the desert without desert clothing and water, they were basically stuck here, at least until the sun went down. Sure the desert would be freezing at night, but it would be better to search for people when it was cold rather than when it was blazing hot.

He already wanted the cooler weather to give him a break from this heat. He had no idea how long they had been here but his boiler suit was pretty much soaked. Now unable to take it anymore, he undid his boiler suit and rolled it down to his waist, tying it off with the sleeves. He plopped down on the sand with a heavy sigh. He mumbled, "I hope Neo's going to be okay. I hope she's with someone. And I hope the captain is also with someone who can handle him. Both are going to be very worried and furious when or if they wake up without each other close."

With nothing else to do, Shachi leaned back against the rock formation. He kept his eyes locked onto the desert wasteland. He hoped that a caravan would soon come by that he and Luffy could catch a ride with. He waited and waited. It felt like hours passed by. But he didn't know how long it actually was. The sun never seemed to change its location. It was starting to get to him. And he was starting to get thirsty while he stared out at the heat lifting off the sand dunes. He turned his eyes down to the sleeping man beside him. He wished that Luffy would wake up. At least then he would have someone to talk to and keep his mind off how long it's possibly been since he had a drink of water.

"Sanji, what's for breakfast?" Luffy then asked as he lifted his body up from his slumber. Drool dripped over his lip and rolled down his chin. "I'm hungry. I want meat."

"I'm afraid we have a more serious problems to worry about than breakfast, Straw Hat," Shachi said as he pointed out to the desert around them. "Like how we're going to survive in the desert without the proper clothes and water to keep us hydrated."

"What?!" Luffy shrieked. He jumped up. Running around inside of their only shade, he looked around the desert. "How did we wind up in the desert?! We were on the Sunrise Resort Island!"

"We were on that island some time ago, Straw Hat," Shachi said. "We were attacked by some strange orb thing, remember?"

"That's right!" Luffy said. His eyebrows narrowed as he looked around for the blob enemy. "Where is that thing?! I'm going to pound it into the dirt!"

"It's gone," Shachi said. "You, me, and that weird monkey are the only ones here."

"Huh?" Luffy looked at the monkey.

"There was also some kind of reptile here when I woke up, but it ran off," Shachi said. "So far no one else has come by this way. I'm not even sure where we are or where the others are."

"The others are missing?!" Luffy's eyes shot over to Shachi.

"I'm afraid so," Shachi said. "I don't even know if they're here on this island, or whatever we're on, or if they're somewhere else. All I could find was this weird little monkey here."

The two men looked at the monkey just a second before a beam of light poured out from the slit in its eyes. They both hummed in curiosity and confusion upon seeing the man before them looked like a cross between a lion and a fish wearing a grey and purple vertical striped robe with pastel blue skin.

"What the heck? Who are you? What are you? Are you a fish or a lion?" Luffy asked. "Wait! Never mind that! Where are my friends?! Are you the one who separated us?!"

…

"A-a-achoo! It's so c-c-c-c-c-cold!" Was the first thing Usopp screamed when he woke up to the subzero temperatures blowing through his body, chilling his bones down to their core. He wrapped his arms around his body and looked around. In all directions all he could see was snow, lots and lots of snow. It blew down on him heavily like a curtain blocking his view from his surroundings. He stumbled backwards. "Where the heck a-" His boot caught on something, causing him to fall back into the deep snow. He popped out of the snow, shaking it off before shivering from the coldness. "I'm going to die out here."

"Whoa," Brook said, lifting up with Usopp's legs lying over his own legs. "Where are we?"

"Th-th-that's wh-wh-what I-I-I-I'd-d-d like t-t-to know," Usoop said, his teeth chattering violently. "I'm s-s-so c-c-cold."

"I'm just fine," Bepo said, popping his head up out of the snow.

"Says the one born with a fur coat!" Usopp screamed.

"I'm sorry," Bepo bowed his head, his nose tucking back into the snow.

"How long have we been here?" Brook asked.

"I don't know," Usopp said. "I just woke up."

"Goodness, you're totally buried," Brook said to Bepo. "How did you manage to get buried while we remained on top? Can you even get out of there?"

"I'm fine," Bepo said, pulling himself out of the snow before brushing the white powder off him.

"Can anyone tell where we are?" Brook asked. "I can't see a thing in this snow storm."

"It looks like a white out," Bepo said. "We might not be going anywhere for a while."

"That's just great!" Usopp shrieked. "I'm going to die out here! What was that thing that attacked us anyway?! And where is everyone else?!" Holding his arms as close to his sides as he could, he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hello! Is anyone out there?! Luffy?! Sanji?! Nami?! Anyone?!"

"It might not be a good idea to scream like that, Luffy," Brook said. "You might start an avalanche."

"A-" Usopp clamped his hands over his mouth. "I didn't think of that. With all this snow I can't see anything. We might be right next to a mountain that's ready to fall on top of us, burying us alive so we'll suffocate to death."

"We'll most likely freeze to death before we suffocate," Bepo said.

"Shut up!" Usopp snapped.

"I'm sorry." Bepo ducked his head again.

"He's correct," Brook said. "And freezing to death is actually the most pain free way to die. You just go to sleep and that's it."

"I don't want to hear that!" Usopp said. "So stop saying things like that!"

A threatening rumbled broke through the howling winds. The group frozen in place, wondering if they really were standing underneath a mountain that was packed heavily with snow and if all that snow was going to fall down on them. The rumbling stopped and was replaced again with the cold howling winds of their surroundings.

"I hope Neo's all right," Bepo said after the rumbling had stopped. "She's going to be so scared to wake up and find that no one's with her."

"Yeah." Usopp nodded.

"Don't lose hope, my friends," Brook said. "She might be with someone. After all, we three are together. And Neo is a very strong young woman. I know she'll be able to take care of herself."

Bepo nodded, but remained obviously worried about his little sister and co-captain. "She'll be fine. I hope."

"That might be true," Usopp said. "It just depends on who took us and why."

"All I know is the captain is going to be furious at whoever took us," Bepo said.

"He'll probably end up slicing everything up," Usopp said. "I hope he at least has someone with him that can keep him calm until he's reunited with Neo."

"That aside," Brook said. He pointed down to Usopp's boots. "What's the deal with the monkey? And why does it have wings?"

"Monkey?" Usopp asked turning his eyes down to where Brook was pointing. "Whoa. There really is a monkey here."

"But how could a monkey survive in weather like this?" Bepo asked. "It's so small and has very little fur."

"Maybe it's not a real monkey?" Brook offered.

"What are you talking about? Of course it's a real monkey." Usopp reached to pick it up. Before his hands could touch it, a voice spilled out of it.

"It's time for you all to wake up now. We have a lot of work to do. Or, rather, _you all_ have lot of work to do."

"Ah!" Usopp screamed and fell back into the snow. "It can talk!"

"Very strange indeed," Brook said, leaning closer to the monkey. "Do you think this is the thing that brought us here?"

"Who cares?!" Usopp said, popping out of the snow again. He tightened his arms around his shaking body, his skin now turning blue. "I can't feel my toes and fingers anymore! We need to get out of here!"

"Hey, something's happening," Bepo said when the monkey's eyes started glowing. A small beam of light came out from the monkey's eyes. It revealed a man with pastel blue skin, fish like ears, black lion mane like hair dressed in robes with vertical grey and purple stripes. "Who's that?"

"Do you think it's the one who really brought us to this place?" Brook asked.

"If so, he can get us out of here." Usopp leaned down, his nose going right through the man's body. "Hey! What the heck?!"

"He's not really there," Bepo said.

"I don't care!" Usopp said. "He can still see us! Listen up you! I'm a notorious pirate captain with five hundred thousand men! They're all going to be looking for me! Send us back to where we were and I'll forget this whole thing!"

The man didn't response.

"Can he even hear us?" Bepo asked.

"I'm not sure," Brook said. "Surely he can if he's appearing to us like this. How is he appearing to us anyway? Usopp's nose went right through him."

"Maybe it's just some kind of mirage?" Usopp offered.

"Is that possible?" Bepo asked.

"It must be," Brook said. "We're all seeing this."

…

Robin stared at the winged monkey before her. She found this island, which was void of plants, animals, and other people beside herself, Topaz and Penguin, was rather small and out in the middle of an ocean. The island only held a small dock with a fish shaped submarine. But the monkey was by far the strangest thing she has seen in a while. Its eyes were so huge and such a dull yellow color. And it had spoke. Or it appeared to have spoken. She didn't see its lips move at all, but knew someone's words came out of it. Her eyes drifted over to Topaz when she heard the Elemental woman waking up. She crawled over to her friends. She asked, "Topaz? Are you waking up now?"

"Hm?" Topaz opened her blurry eyes to see someone fuzzy looking down at her. She blinked to clear the fuzz and found that it was Robin. "Robin?"  
"Good you're finally awake," Robin said. She gave Topaz her hand and helped the Elemental sit up.

"Yeah." Topaz nodded before looking around at their surroundings. "Where are we? Is that…" She paused when she saw the strange winged monkey sitting not far from them.

"It's been here since I woke up," Robin said. "It hasn't moved at all."

"It's not real," Topaz said.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"I mean it's not a real monkey," Topaz said. "It's not even a real animal."

"It's not a real animal?" Robin blinked at the thing. "I guess that would explain why it hasn't moved at all."

"Neo's not here either," Topaz said.

Robin brought her eyes back to the woman. All she could do was nod in agreement. She figured out that they were the only ones here. This only confirmed her feelings.

Topaz ran her hands over her face. "The captain is not going to like this. I wonder if Neo is with someone too."

"She might be," Robin said.

"Penguin." Topaz shot her eyes over to her crewmate. He was lying on his back with his boiler suit stained with blood. Pulling back the torn pieces of his suit, she inspected the injury the best she could while trying to ignore the iron smell piercing into her nose. Her heart thundered inside of her chest as she pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket. She was worried for Penguin but also for Neo. Neo wouldn't be happy one bit if something happened to her brother. Wiping away as much blood as she could, she inspected the wound to find it wasn't as big as she thought it was. Her tightened chest relaxed. "That's good."

"Is he going to be all right?" Robin asked.

"Physically I think so," Topaz said while she continued to clean the small round hole in Penguin's stomach. "He might be more mentally wounded than anything else. We're still going to need to find something to clean and properly suture this so it doesn't get infected." She looked around at the horizon of the water. "Do you think anyone else is around here?"  
"It's possible that someone could be living beyond our eyesight," Robin said. "We'll keep a look out for boats. Someone might come by soon."

"Yeah." Topaz nodded despite feeling they were farther away from their homes than they realized. With nothing else to do, they sat down on the ground to wait for Penguin to wake up.

A little while later they turned their eyes to the man when he groaned and started pushing himself up off the ground. The move shot a sharp pain through his lower left abdomen. He placed his hand on his wound, putting pressure there to try and stop the bleeding. "That hurts."

"Penguin," Topaz said, moving closer to her crewmate. "How bad is it?"  
"Not too bad," Penguin said. "It missed vital organs."

"Try not to move so much until we can stitch that up," Topaz said, checking his wound out again. "If only Neo or the captain was here they could easily fix this."

"They're not here?!" Penguin's heart leaped into his chest. His eyes darted around their surrounding area in a panic. He was barely registering that he, Topaz, and Robin were all on a small island. "Where's Neo?! Where is she?!"

"We don't know," Robin said calmly.

"We're the only ones who landed here apparently. Minus the strange winged monkey who happens to not be real," Topaz said. She nodded at the monkey sitting about three feet from them. "We're not even sure how long we've been here. We just woke up a little while ago."

Penguin grabbed his head and growled. "This can't be happening. We have to get to her."

"We can't until we figure out where we actually are," Topaz said.

"And how do we do that?!" Penguin snapped.

"Penguin," Topaz said. "Calm down."

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down!" Penguin growled. Wincing he pushed himself to his feet, holding his injured side. He paced around on the island, looking for a way to get out of here. But all there was only the small submarine. He paused in front of it. He wanted to jump right into the thing and take off to find his sister. He didn't though. He couldn't even make a possible guess to where she even was or where they were. And if Topaz could sense her she would have said so. That meant they were far apart, very far apart. In frustration, he kicked the sub and stalked back over to the women. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be," Topaz said. "I can understand how you're feeling. Neo was so scared when we were taken away from her. She's going to completely freak out if she all alone."

"So what do we do now?" Penguin asked.

"I think we're about to get our answer," Robin said.

The two Heart Pirates looked at her to find their companion pointing at the winged monkey. They both turned their eyes to find the image of a man with lion mane black hair, pastel blue skin, fish like ears, wearing vertical striped robes coming out of the monkey's eyes.

Penguin clenched his fists. He knew, somehow, that this was the one who separated them all. He hissed, "You better start talking!"

…

"When I get my hands on that thing that attacked us I'm going to slice it up into several million pieces," Zoro grumbled as he sat up from the hard ground. He swiped his nose and brushed with his fingers in an attempt to get the dirt that somehow got up there out. He then rubbed his forehead to try and settle down his throbbing head. "Where is that thing?"

"I think the better question to ask is, where are we?" Franky said.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro asked. He turned his eyes to the cyborg. Pushing himself to his feet, he walked over to his crewmate. His eye widened at the sight before them. There was a rather large steel city in the distances. Several black dots were flying around it like bees do to their hives. "Where are we?"

"I don't have a clue," Franky said. "I don't even know where the others are either. From what I can tell, we're the only ones from our two crews that are here."

"We're the only ones?" Zoro ran his eyes carefully over the city before turning around to see what was around them. Behind them he found a thick forest surrounded them. "I wonder if everyone else is with someone."

"You mean Neo," Franky said.

"I said _everyone_ ," Zoro scoffed. "Why would I single her out?"

"Because you care more for her than you like to let on," Franky said.

"Shut up! I do not!" Zoro growled.

"I with you, brother," Franky said. "With her being pregnant, being separated from her crew and friends is the last thing she needs." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I wonder why that thing went right after Neo."

"I'd be more concerned about why it waited until after Chopper spotted it to attack," Zoro said.

"Sounds like it wanted us to see it," Franky said.

Zoro nodded. "That's a possibility. So who long have you been awake? Have you seen anyone around here at all?"

"I've been awake only for a few minutes," Franky said. "I looked around a bit, but this forest is so thick I figured I'd probably get lost if I went in there. And the city is too far away. I knew I wouldn't get back in time before you woke up. The only thing I've found is that little monkey with wings."

"Monkey with wings?" Zoro asked. He turned his eyes away from the cyborg and found what his crewmate was talking about. About five yards from them was the little winged monkey. It's weird, lifeless stare made his eyebrows twitch in annoyance. "Stop staring at me like that. You're creeping me out."

"So what do you think we should do now?" Franky asked. "If the others are here, they could be miles away from us. I'm not even sure if we're in the New World anymore either."

"Well, we're not going to get anywhere sitting around here," Zoro said. "We might as well go into the city and find out where were are. We can also ask around to see if anyone has seen the rest of our crews and the Heart Pirates."

"There's a small path down the cliff over in that direction," Franky said, pointing to his right. "It might be a bit tight, but I think we can make it down to the bottom. I'd suggest just jumping down but it looks to be over two hundred feet. And without Chopper here we really need to be careful."

"Whatever," Zoro said, heading towards the direction Franky pointed. "Let's just go."

"Hey! Wait up! I don't need you getting lost now!" Franky ran to catch up with his swordsman crewmate.

"I'm not going to get lost!" Zoro snapped. "That city is huge! Only a moron wouldn't be able to find his way to it!"

"Sure. Whatever you say," Franky mumbled.

At the same time they both looked to their lefts when they heard strange rumbling noises coming towards them. Zoro's swords swished as he pulled them from their sheaths. Franky's wrist clicked while his hand dropped open. Both stood ready for the possible attack to come from the trees. Seconds later, six strange vehicles flew over their heads. They crossed their arms over their faces to keep dirt and leaves from hitting their eyes before they looked to see the flying objects heading towards the city.

"What the heck were those things?" Zoro asked, lowering his swords.

"They looked like some kind of flying machine," Franky said. "I wonder if that means we're no where near the sea or if they fly them over the sea."

"Whatever. Let's just get out of here and see if we can find the others or not," Zoro said. He sheathed his swords while turning back to the find the path Franky mentioned before. He paused. His eyebrows twitched in agitation when he saw the monkey had moved and was still staring at him. "If you're challenge me to a fight then bring it on already!"

"When did that thing even move?" Franky asked.

"It's time for you all to wake up now. We have a lot of work to do. Or, rather, _you all_ have lot of work to do."

"Did that thing just speak?" Zoro asked.

"I don't think so," Franky said, walking over to the monkey. He picked it up and started looking it over. "Its mouth didn't move at all." He turned it over in his hand. "I think it's some kind of machine."

"A talking machine?" Zoro stepped closer to his friend and took a closer look at the monkey. "So why is it here? Think it might have something to do with that blob thing that attacked us?"

"It's a possibility," Franky said.

The monkey's eyes then lit up. A beam came out of its black slits, forming a man. Franky turned it right side up then sat it back on the ground.

"What is that thing?" Zoro asked inspecting the man's body. "He looks like a cross between a lion and a fish."

"Well, maybe he is a lion fishman or something," Franky said.

"But fishmen are all fish, not lions," Zoro said.

Franky and Zoro exchanged confused and questioning glances before turning back at the monkey.

…

Law did have to even open his eyes or use his bond with her to tell that Neo was nowhere near him. He knew something wasn't right with how that thing attacked them. It had the elemental of surprise on its side yet waited until it had been spotted to attack. But why? Why did it wait? And why did it only directly attack Neo? Was it really only after her? Or was it something else? Was it an attack from a past enemy seeking revenge? If so, how was it they made that blob thing to have the ability to escape all of their attacks? Was it Caesar Clown? That man was a scientist after all. He could possibly create a thing like that. Or maybe he was giving the man too much credit. Caesar might have been smart, but he wouldn't have waited until they spotted his attack to make his own move. It was someone else. But who? Who would know they were on that island?

Law knew he needed to get up. He had been lying there for several minutes just staring up at the strange organic shaped leaves above him. He wasn't even questioning the strange shape leaves or their oddly thin branches they swayed from. His mind was only on Neo. Where was she? Did their enemy have her? Was she a hostage? Was she somewhere else? Was she with anyone? If she woke up without someone there, he knew she would be freaked out, even with what he said to her before they vanished from each other's sight. He just hoped she would be able to calm herself down enough with his ring and hat with her.

He took in a deep breath. Holding it for a few seconds before slowly releasing it. Despite a small flicker of not wanting to, he tried to reach out for Neo through their bond. _'Neo? Can you hear me?'_

Silence met him. He rubbed his hands over his face. He couldn't even communicate with her through their bond. That meant they were farther apart than he realized. They probably weren't even on the same island. He wondered if he would be able to Project himself to her. He sat up and looked around the forest. Anger flared up in his chest again when he spotted his sword lying on the ground next to him. He didn't have that with him on the beach. He had forgotten all about it when the thing attacked them. With it showing up here, he knew for sure they were taking for a specific reason. And whatever that was, it was going to end with him shoving his sword through the heart of whoever took them.

He had to force himself to look away from the sword. If he didn't, he knew he would pick it up and tear this place apart in looking for Neo and whoever took her from him. While doing so, he found that he wasn't completely along. He was with Nami. The orange haired navigator was passed out on the ground about five feet from him. He didn't know why she was asleep. He didn't even know why he had fallen asleep. He wondered if their attacker used some kind of gas or sedative on them. He really didn't feel like he was coming out of being put to sleep. He just felt like he was waking up. Waking up from a bad nightmare.

Law gritted his teeth and clenched his fists so hard his fingernails perched through his skin. Neo was going to have nightmares over this. And it was going to be worse for her to wake up and find he's not there. He had to get to her. He had to Project himself to her and let her know that he was all right. But could he? Was he in a safe enough place to do that? If they were attacked, would Nami be able to hold the enemy off until he was able to come back? He didn't know. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, he wasn't going to try. He needed to at least wait and figure out where they were. He then would try and Project himself to her.

He then did a mental count of who was all on the beach with them when they were attacked. Out of everyone that was supposedly taken, Penguin was going to be the second one he was going to be the most worried about. Next to him, Penguin was the most protective and closest to Neo. He hoped he was with someone, preferably Neo. He also hoped his subordinate could find supplies, if he wasn't with Neo, to bandage up his wound properly. Bending his legs up, he rested his arms over his knees.

"Uh, what happened?" Nami asked when she started to wake up. She sat up, rubbed her head, and looked around. "Tra, where are we?"  
"I don't know," Law said. "I just woke up."

Nami looked around. She took in her surroundings carefully. She noticed the oddly shaped tree limbs and leaves. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the leaves were a dark green with bright blue veins running through them. She also noticed the forest didn't smell like any forest she's even been in. She noticed this place had a faint smell of smoke to them. She squeaked. "I can smell smoke! I hope the forest isn't on fire!"

Law didn't respond.

"I also smell blood," Nami said when the wind shifted. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Law said.

Nami's eyes dropped to his hand. She could see the blood on his fingernails easily. She decided it was best not to mention it. She knew why the blood was there. She looked around again. "Do you think anyone else landed here?"

Law closed his eyes. He didn't feel like replying. The answer should have been obvious anyway. If anyone else were here they would have been with them. Or he thought so. Why only drop himself and Nami here and everyone else somewhere else?

"Can you sense where Neo is?" Nami asked.

Law twitched. He forced himself to answer her. "No."

"Oh. We'll I'm sure she's okay," Nami said, thought she was having doubts about it herself. She knew how Neo was. They had to find her as soon as they could.

"Very good. You all are now awake," a disembodied voice said.

"Who said that?" Nami asked, looking around.

Law grabbed his sword. Carefully scanned his eyes around the forest, he stood up and unsheathed it. He whipped around at the same time as Nami when leaves rustled behind them.

"Huh?" Nami, clenching her weather baton, blinked when a spider monkey jumped from a tree branch and landed on the ground six feet in front of them. "Is that a…spider monkey? What in the world is that doing here?"

The monkey's eyes lit up. A beam shot out from its slits, creating the same man that all the other pirates were staring at.

Law did need to be told this was the man who really attacked him. He just knew it was. His brain instantly when through thousands of torture methods he was going to do to this man when he finally got his hands on him. _He_ _was_ going to pay for what he did. _He was_ gong to pay for taking Neo way from him.

Nami, ignoring the hatred radiating off her companion, kneeled down to be closer to the small man's projection. "Are you the one who attacked us back on the beach?"

"Yes, that would be me," he replied. "Welcome."

Law snapped. He could believe this man would dare welcome them to a place they didn't want to be. He hissed, "Where's Neo?! What did you do with her?!"

"She is just fine. She-"

"Give her back to me! Now!" Law demanded.

The man stroked his chin as he quietly observed the pirate in front of him.

"Don't make me repeat myself!" Law pointed the tip of his sword to the man's image.

"Watch what you demand from me," he said, his lips curling into a smirk. "I'm the one in control here."

Law growled. He hated to admit it, but the man was right. He was in no position to be making demands. Neo could be this person's hostage. This man could hurt her and there would be nothing he could do about it. He reluctantly lowered his sword down.

"You made the correct decision," the man said.

"So who are you? Why did you send that blob thing to capture us? And where are the rest of our friends?" Nami asked with a cooler head than Law could possibly hope to have in this moment.

"You don't have to worry about your friends. All of you are currently watching this broadcast simultaneously. And I guarantee that you all are currently safe in the areas that you are in. I, however, cannot say how long that will last since I don't personally know all of the domes you are in," the man said. "I haven't been to all of them. But they should be pleasant enough for you all."

…

"I wish I knew who he was talking to and what questions were being asked." Penguin growled. "I hope he's talking about Neo. And I hope she really is safe."

"Considering that blob went directly after Neo, I think it's a pretty safe bet to say he's talking about her," Topaz said.

"If that's true, then it must be Tra that was talking just now. I guess we can only talk to this guy and not our friends," Robin said. "Do you think Neo is being held as a hostage?"

"Please, don't say things like that," Penguin begged.

"It's possible," Topaz said. "I just hope he doesn't have her locked up in a cell."

Penguin gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. If only he could see her, even for a moment. He wanted to know, he wanted to see for himself that she was okay.

…

"You all suddenly became very quiet," the man said. "I thought you all would be happy considering I left her in a safe place."

…

"A safe place?" Franky asked. "What's this guy talking about?"

"I have no idea," Zoro said. "But he's going to pay for all of this."

…

"Domes? What are you talking about?" Sanji asked the image. "And just who the heck are you? Why did you take us from our friends? And you better not have laid a single find on any of my friends."

…

"My name is Pendulum." The man's holographic image began to walk around. But none of the pirates could tell exactly where he was walking to or where he even was. He stopped walking and looked back up at them. "I would love to tell you exactly where you are, but it would take a lot of time to explain it to you all. It's very difficult to understand for humans that have never been here before. And right now you have more important things to worry about. I brought you all here for a specific reason. And that reason is to gather up pieces of a broken mirror, of sorts. It was broken in a battle a few years ago and I really need it back."

…

The winds continued to howl around Usopp, Bepo, and Brook. The cries were so loud that the man's voice was almost drowned out by them. They moved in closer to the monkey in hopes they didn't miss a word their kidnapper was saying. Usopp shifted closer to the polar bear beside him. He sneezed hard then said, "You hav-v-ve got t-t-to be k-k-kidding m-m-me! We're on the verge of f-f-freezing to death and you want us t-t-to find a broken mirror?! Just go buy a new one!"

"I'm not on the verge of freezing," Bepo said.

"Oh shut up!" Usopp snapped.

"I'm sorry," Bepo bowed his head once more.

"Do you really want us to find a mirror?" Brook asked. "Why not just go by a new one? It would be a lot simpler than all of this."

…

Pendulum shook his head. "It's not an mirror that you can just go out and buy. It's a very special mirror with a very specific purpose. And if you want to ever see your friends again you all will find every last piece for me. There are only seven pieces that need to be found. So it shouldn't be that hard for you pirates to find them. I've been watching you all for a long time so I know what your skills consist of. That leads me to believe you have all the skills necessary to succeed in your mission and survive in the domes you're in."

…

"I will not bow to your demands and go chasing after a stupid mirror! If you know where the shards are, then find them yourself! Return Neo to me! _Now_!" Law hissed. His anger was briefly replaced with confusion when all the man did was smile.

"You will be reunited with your precious _princess_ and wife as soon as you have retrieved your assigned shard," Pendulum said.

Law's entire body jerked. He wasn't expecting that at all. How long has this guy been watching them?

"You know she's a princess and married to Tra?" Nami gasped.

"Like I just said to you all, I've been watching you for quite a long time." The holographic man starting walking around before sitting down in a throne. Rest his elbows on the armrests, he laced his fingers together in front of his face. "I know what she means to you, Trafalgar Law. I've seen how you react towards her. You're so in love with her that it makes me want to vomit. Despite that, I know what you can do when someone hurts her. So I give you my word that no harm will come to her and I will keep her safe, as long as you all bring me the shards. And while I cannot just hand her over to you, I can show you that she is indeed safe where I put her. She hasn't even woken up yet so she doesn't really know you all aren't near her."

The man's image faded and another one took his place.

Law did know how he should feel in the moment. He was so relieve to see Neo lying there on top of a bed with his hat still on her head, seemingly untouched and unharmed in any kind of way. But he was also scared, confused, and very furious. Pendulum had apparently and possibly unknowingly hurt her in one of the worst ways possible. And it would only get worse once she woke up. He looked at her image as much as he could before forcing his eyes away to look at what little of her surroundings he could. It really didn't look like she was a cell, but since he couldn't see much there was still the possibility that she was. He couldn't even tell if that man was in the room with her. The very thought flared up his anger even more. This psycho could be in the very same room as his love and there was nothing he could do about it. He reached out for her, wanting to touch her, to hold her, but she faded away before he could get close enough. Pendulum reappeared with a look that screamed gloating on his face. Law growled and clenched his fists again. He said, "If you touch her in any kind of way so help me I'll-"

Nami held out her hand to cut Law off. She could feel his glare on her, but she wisely ignored it. It was bad enough that she silenced this man. She didn't need to push her luck any farther than she already did. She narrowed her eyebrows at Pendulum's image. She said, "All right, we'll do what you want us to do. We'll find these shards for you. Just keep your word and don't hurt her. Now how do we find these shards?"

"You're a smart woman. I have already equipped you all with the necessary equipment to locate the shards," Pendulum replied with a cocky smile that made all the pirates want to punch him in the face. "The little monkey that is with you is all you need to locate them. They'll lead you directly to the shard on your respective domes. Just follow it and retrieve the shards. It couldn't be any more simple than that."

…

"Don't tell me this little monkey is all we need," Zoro said as he frowned at the monkey. "This whole thing is such a pain."

"How will this thing help us?" Franky asked, scratching his head while his eyes inspected the strange machine. "It doesn't look like it can do very much."

…

"Oh, I assure you that the monkeys will do their jobs," Pendulum explained. "They have been built with an ability to trace the unique magic signal the shards will be giving off. And in the case of finding the shard among several other mirror shards, you'll easily be able to tell you have the correct shard when you look into it. The mirror doesn't reflect anything. Now, I can't tell you where they might be or who might have the shards because I don't know. And I don't really care how you get them as long as you get them. Kill everyone you see if it'll help you get the shards. Since you're all pirates I'm positive that won't be a problem for you. There is, however, a few rules you will need to be aware of. First rule and the most important rule of them all, _never_ mention my name to anyone you come across. Second rule, do not udder one single word about your mission to gather the shards to anyone either. The third rule is to never tell anyone that the monkeys with you are machines. Just pretend they're your pets or whatever. And the fourth rule is do not let the monkeys be destroyed. They're your only way back to your precious princess. They will automatically take you to the dome your princess is at when you finally have the shards in your hands. If you break any one of these rules I cannot guarantee the safety of your princess. And I will know if any of you break any of these rules. All the monkeys have built in sensors that record your moves and sounds. They get relayed right back to me so I'll be watching you all very closely."

"What do we do with the shards when we have them? Should we bring them to you?" Nami asked.

"No, you all won't be bringing me the shards. The monkeys will do that once you have them. Then, when I get all the shards back I will send you all back to your homes. Good luck to you all, oh, and don't die." With that Pendulum's image disappeared.

Law cursed under his breath. He whipped around and marched over to the closest tree. Pulling back his fist, he swung it forward. He could feel his skin splitting open when his fist made contact with the tree. The bark caved under his punch, splintering into his already damaged hand. Leaves rain down around him from the tree shaking in protest to being hit. He didn't care. His thoughts were completely on Neo. She was along. She was going to wake up in that place with no one around her. Or worse, she was going to wake up to that man being there. And her magic was still cutting out from her pregnancy. She could be completely helpless. He felt so helpless himself. He was supposed to be her protector. He was supposed to keep things like this from happening. He failed. He was supposed to keep her safe. And she wasn't safe at all.

…

"Well, that should motivate them to get the shards as quickly as they possibly can. I knew I picked right when choosing the princess. They're so furious they won't rest until they have gathered all of the shards. If I'm lucky I'll have the mirror back in my possession within a month or so." Pendulum leaned back in his chair. With his fingers still laced together, he watched and listened to the pirates as they took this all in and made plans to get the shards and find their way back to their princess. His eyes wondered to the still sleeping girl in the bed. He wondered when she was going to wake up. He was going to have to go properly introduce himself when she does. "Now, what am I going to do with you when you wake up. I wouldn't want you to get bored while you're without your loving family and especially your sweet lover."

…

 **Apple Bloom: Hopefully this time it won't be plagued with cliffhangers.**

 **Sarge1130: I know the feeling in wanting to cuddle Law. I have my eye on a plushy of him. I hope I get it before they're all gone.**


	7. Time Stream

Time Stream

Neo didn't want to wake up. She knew they were gone. Her nightmare had come true like it always does. A good chuck of her crew and the Straw Hats were all taken away from her while the rest of their crew remained back on the island with no clue they had been taken. She didn't want to face that. Alone. But she knew she couldn't just lay there forever. Her body was aching, in more ways than one. First her body was aching from lying on her back for so long. She rarely ever laid on her back. Secondly, her body was aching a lot harder from the visions in her head that constantly replayed what happened on the beach. Her heart took sharp painful beats each time she saw Law and her family being covered in that strange blob thing. Her breath hitched in her lungs when she saw her fingers being pulled from Law's. His words rang in her ears like bells. _"Neo, be strong for me. If we are separated, we_ will _find our way back to you. Just wait for us._ I promise _you everything will be fine. Please, just be strong. You can handle whatever happens."_

She reminded herself again and again to be strong. She had to be strong until they returned. She just didn't know if she was going to be able to do that. This was the first time, since Luminous, that she's been taken away from her family.

She opened her wet eyes and wondered how long she had been crying. She couldn't bring herself to wipe away her tears or even sit up. So she just laid there, staring up at the ceiling and noticing it was a light purple. Wherever she was, she was at least inside somewhere. But where was everyone else? Where did the person or thing that took them take them? She knew they weren't close to her at all. She couldn't sense Law, Bepo, Chopper, or Luffy. She closed her eyes and tried to reach out for Law. _'Law? Please…answer me.'_

He didn't. She was only met with silence.

Her stomach twisted from the deafening silence that met her and her pregnancy. She closed her eyes again. Her warm tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she took slow breaths to try and calm her stomach down. After about two minutes of breathing, her stomach relaxed again and her tears started to subside as well. She reopened her eyes. She remained laying there for a few more seconds before finally pushing herself up into a sitting position. Starting down at the bed she wondered if she should Project herself to Law. She had to force herself to not do that. She had no idea where she was or if she was in danger. Projecting to him could cause her some serious problems. It hurt her not to do it but she knew that's what Law would want. It's what they agreed on when they learned of this ability.

Dragging her eyes over the room she found she was lying on a large bed that could easily fit five people comfortably. Looking to her left she found two double doors and one single door. She assumed the double doors were a closet and the single one a bathroom. The doors were purple ombre and angled in odd shapes. The double doors were skewed rectangle shapes while the single door looked more like an out of proportion eight with a golden knob sticking out of it.

Moving her eyes along she found another door straight ahead of her. The shape of this door reminded her of a picture of a germ Law had once showed her. It too was a purple ombre color with a golden doorknob. Moving on to the right side of the room, she found a set of light blue see through doors that took up the majority of the wall and led out to a balcony. Beyond the balcony she saw some type of structure that resembled a lighthouse with a two pincher claw mounted on top. Her breath hitched in her lungs. She wondered if anyone else was here. The place seemed oddly quiet to her. Her fingers reached up to Law's hat. She fingered it for a few seconds before letting her digits drop to his ring. She bit her bottom lip, wondering if she should stay where she was or if she should get up and look around.

Several minutes passed before she finally, and slowly, moved over to the edge of the bed. Placing her feet on the floor she found that it felt like fuzz but didn't look like there was carpet there at all. She pushed herself to her feet and took a few steps towards the door she believed would lead her out of this room. She glanced over at the balcony, wondering if she should go through those doors instead. Would it be the safer choice? Was there going to be an ambush waiting for her beyond both doors? Was that blob thing still around? She didn't know. And she wouldn't know just by standing there.

Swallowing, she continued on her way over to the door. Her hand trembled as she reached for the golden doorknob. Her fingers curled around it. Her heart thundered in her chest when she slowly turned the knob. She cracked the door open and paused. Listening for any signs of life on the other side of the door. She didn't hear anything. She continued to open it until it was open enough for her to peak out. The hallway appeared to be the same light color purple as this room. But no lights were on so it looked darker than it did in here. She saw several doors lining both sides of the hallway. Beyond them was an open area that looked to lead to a staircase. On the other side of that was an identical hallway with the same amount of doors this one had.

Gnawing on her bottom lip she debated whether or not it was a good idea to leave this room. She just wasn't sure. She had no clue where that blob thing was or could be. And with how much trouble they all had in dealing with that thing back on the beach, she knew she didn't stand a chance of taking it on by herself. Feeling her anxiety rise, she quickly closed the door and back away from it. Bringing her hands up to her chest, she started fingering Law's ring again in an attempt to try and figure out what she should do. She wondered what Law would do in this situation. A small chuckle passed over her lips, filling the room with her bells. She knew Law would be angry. He probably would slice this place up with his Room, demanding whoever took them to give her back. But he wasn't here. And she wasn't willingly the destructive type.

She turned away from the door and walked over to the balcony doors. She paused when she noticed they didn't have any door handles. For a split second panic settled into her upon realizing she might be a prisoner here. She wondered if this was actually a window that didn't open instead of a door. She shook her head and calmed her breathing. That couldn't be true. Why would anyone put a balcony outside of a window but not give a way to access it? She stepped forward. When she was about two feet from the doors they slid opened with a light swish. The unexpected move caused her to jump. She exhaled, calming herself down before stepping out cautiously onto the balcony. She gave a sigh of relief when no one appeared to be set to ambush her and for not being a prisoner after all.

Her eyes locked onto the lighthouse like structure over in the distance. Upon a closer look it didn't have any windows so she figured no one was living in it as she previously thought. She dropped her eyes down to the area below the structure. There was a small forest around it and the majority of the grounds appeared to be fields. But she wasn't able to tell what kind of plants were growing there. They didn't feel like anything she's grown before or come across. She carefully scanned her eyes over the area again. She was looking for animals but couldn't find any at all. She didn't like it. She felt too isolated and alone. Then she wondered if she just couldn't sense them. Since the plants felt a bit different than what she was use to maybe the animals would feel a bit different too. She glanced back into the bedroom. She didn't want to leave it but she didn't want to stay here either. Someone else might be here with her. So she summoned a wind crystal and took to the air.

For whatever reason, she turned to look back at the building. A gasp passed over her lips when she saw it. The entire building was designed like a grandfather clock. There even was a clock face at the top of the building but the numbers on it weren't like the number she was use to. They were odd lines that looked like they had been randomly glued together. A pendulum was swinging back and forth inside of the clear windows, but made no sound at all. The color of the walls was also a purple ombre but the colors were moving up the walls of the clock. Dropping her eyes down to the ground she found an organic shaped patio with organic shaped chairs and a birdbath like pedestal with some pearl colored stone laying in it.

"Such and odd place," Neo said while she continue to hover in the air. "The hallway looked longer inside than it does from out here. I wonder how they manage to pull that off." She scanned her eyes back around her surroundings. "And where am I? I don't sense the sea anywhere near me. Did that blob take us to really massive island were I can't sense the sea from where I am? Speaking of that thing, I wonder where it went. Why hasn't it come back yet? Or was someone else controlling it? Am I really alone here?"

She turned away from the clock building and headed for the other only structure she could see. While flying over to it she scanned her eyes on the ground below her for any signs of crews possibly being here with her. The more she flew around the less hopeful she was feeling about finding an ally here. Her heart sank lower in her chest with each second that passed and she didn't find anyone around. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. She wondered how she was going to be able to survive alone. Ever since Law had found her, she had never been alone. She was so use to having the crew around. Now they weren't.

Distracted by her tears, she didn't see a vine snapping up towards her. She looked down when she felt something wrap around her ankle a second before it jerked her body downward. She increased her wind, stalling herself three feet from the ground. "That was way too close. What are you doing? Release me at once."

The vine didn't respond.

"Don't tell me these vines aren't going to lis-wait…" Neo paused when she noticed no kind of life was coming from this vine at all. It was completely void of life. She kneaded her eyebrows in confusion. Is this plant really not real? From the corner of her eyes she saw movement of something striking at her. Increasing her winds she shot herself into the air, freeing her ankle as she went. She glanced down to find several vines, which were also lifeless, following her. She gritted her teeth and started to duck and dive them as they struck out at her. Unknowingly moving herself closer to the lighthouse structure. She gasped and faltered in her flying when an entire wall of vines shot up between her and the structure. She flinched when a sharp pain shot through her left arm. A vine had hit her when she paused from the unexpected vine wall. She flew back away from it as quickly as she possibly could. She glanced back over her shoulder to see if the vines were still following her. They were. But when she got far enough away from the structure, the vines pulled back and disappeared below the tree line.

She paused. Placing her hand over her pounding heart as she watched the last of the vines disappear. She said, "Well, I guess getting close to that thing is forbidden."

She turned her eyes down to the warm, sticky blood dripping down her arm. Her stomach twisted into knots at seeing the red against her skin. Penguin was hurt when they were back on the beach. And she wasn't any where near him to heal him with her solar crystal. She started to wheeze. Faltering in her wind control, she dropped a few feet before Law's words shot through her mind again. She regained control over her wind and rose back into the air. Closing her eyes she worked on slowing her breathing down until it was back under control. "Calm down. Penguin will be fine. He knows how to handle himself. I'm sure he'll find something to clean and bandage his wound. He's strong. They're all strong. They will come back to me. I just have to wait, be patient, and strong. I can handle this. I _can_ handle this."

She summoned her solar crystal. Releasing its healing glow over her injury, she inspected the cut for any dirt that might be inside of it. She didn't see any. Turning away from the lighthouse structure, she flew as far away from it as she could. If whoever brought her here didn't want her near that thing, then fine, she didn't want near it either. She continued to fly away from it until she saw something in front of her. She narrowed her eyes at the image in front of her. It looked very familiar yet she couldn't place where she's seen it before. Suddenly, she jerked to a halt when the image became clearer. A strangled, "No" escaped her lips.

Her solar crystal faded as she reached towards the image with trembling hands. Her heart skipped three solid beats before it started beating normally again. Her hands landed on a smooth, slightly cool surface. Her brain buzzed. It couldn't be possible. She took off like a shot. Following her faded image all the way around until she came right back to the spot where she started. She then flew upward, desperate to get away from her reflection and drawing in wheezing breaths when it still followed her. Her image curve upward with whatever it was reflecting on. It rounded like some kind of dome. By the time she reached the other side her breathing was out of control. She was a prisoner after all. Her cell just didn't have bars on it like the one she was put in back on Luminous. She pounded on the glass or plastic that was trapping her inside, desperate to get out. But her hits made not a sound. The strange structure wasn't even vibrating from her hits. She screamed, "No! Law! I can't do this! I can't…I can't be trapped! Let me out of here! Law! Penguin! Chopper! Someone! Help! Get…get me out of here!"

She flew back from it. Summoning five crystals of each element, she unleashed all of the elements onto her prison. When her attack faded away, she moved forward to find she didn't even scratch the surface. Moving back, she summoned over a hundred of each of her crystals. Blending all the elements together for the strongest attack she could manage in her panicked state. She moved the attack forward.

"Wait! Don't do that!" a small voice cried out. "You'll put us all in serious danger!"

Neo whipped around, turning her attack to whoever called out to her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her eyes scanned all over this place, but she found that she was still alone. But if that was true, then who called out to her just now? Before she could put anymore thought into it, her stomach turned with a violent threat of a second appearance of her fancy dinner. She dropped to the ground. Immediately falling to her hands and knees she retched up everything she had inside of her. With the jerk forward, Law's hat fell off her head and rolled away a few feet.

When her stomach decided it had nothing left to give, she straightened up and cover her mouth with one hand while cupping their baby with her other hand. Exhaustion hit her hard. It wasn't going to be very long before she fell asleep again. She knew she shouldn't, but she wasn't going to be able to stop it. So she crawled over to Law's hat. Clutching it to her chest, she laid down on the ground. All of her crystals faded away as her eyelid became too heavy to keep open. Tear drops leaked over the corner of her eyes just before her eyelids closed. She whispered, "Law…please, hurry up and come back to me. We need you."

…

"What are you doing?" Neo heard a small male voice asked when she started to wake up some time later.

"I'm just checking on her," another female voice said. Neo noticed that this one sounded familiar. It kind of sounded like the voice that yelled out to her. "She got sick. The poor thing must be coming down with something."

"Hm…judging from the roundness of her stomach, she's clearly coming down with the baby flu," the male voice said.

Neo's heart skipped a beat. Whoever these people were, they knew she was pregnant now. She had to wake up. But for some reason, she felt too groggy to move. Maybe this was just a dream she was having. That would explain why she couldn't move.

"I like her!" a third, younger female, voice said. "She's pretty!"

"Neither of you should get so close to her," the male said.

"Aw, why not? She's really, really pretty!" the young voice said.

"Pretty doesn't mean she's safe," the male voice said.

"Doesn't mean she's not safe," the older female voice said. "You know she doesn't belong here. No one's been traveling between the domes for months, for centuries. _He_ had to have brought her here some how."

"That could be true, but we don't really know anything for sure yet," the male said. "We should at least wait until she wakes up. And what about that attack she almost did? Do you think she could have possibly damaged the dome with it?"

"It's a possibility," the female voice said. "I didn't want to take the chance and find out."

"I like her!" the youngest voice said.

"Celeste! Get away from her!" the male said. "You really shouldn't touch anyone you don't know!"

Neo gasped at the thought of being touched. Her eyes popped open. She shot up into a sitting position and looked around. Oddly enough, she didn't see anyone anywhere near her. She exhaled and ran her hand over her face. "It was just a dream, nothing but a dream. No one's here but me. No one's going to touch me at all."

A soft rumble of thunder made her look up to the sky, or what should have been the sky. The strange dome ceiling began to darken like a storm was rolling in. The wind, coming from small vents placed in various spots that she didn't notice before, began to blow through the area. It teased her hair and the leaves from the trees and bushes. She wondered for a split second on why she didn't feel this storm coming in. She shook the thought from her head. It really didn't matter right now. She just needed to get back inside of the clock house before she got wet. Raindrops then started falling. They landed beside her, prompting her to summon a wind crystal again.

Lifting herself into the air, she headed back to the room she woke up in. The doors opened up for her once she was close enough. Standing just inside of the room, she watched as the rain came pouring down. It was only then she realized there weren't any real clouds in the sky of this place. The glass, or whatever it was that she was going to attempt to break was only colored, or whatever, to look like storm clouds. The rain was coming from somewhere else. Sighing she said, "Since there are no rain clouds here then it's probably some kind of watering system that's making it look like rain. I hate it here already. I don't have Law or anyone else with me and now I'm figuring out I'm a prisoner in some strange place that won't have real weather. How am I going to survive this? I have to keep calm. If I was brought into this place then there is some way to get out of it. I not really trapped. I…I just don't know how to get out of here."

She stretched out her hand to catch some of the raindrops. When she brought her hand back to her face to inspect the drops, she found that instead of pooling into a tiny puddle, they maintained their droplet forms. They didn't mix together at all. She tilted her hand, allowing them to fall to the balcony floor. When they hit the floor they immediately absorbed into it. She gave it a confusing look before looking back out into the fake storm before her. "What is this place? The house is a clock that doesn't make any ticking sounds, a lot of the plants are lifeless, the lighthouse just sits there with its seemingly useless claw with no light inside of it, and now raindrops that hold their shape. Why am I even here?"

Neo turned away from the balcony. Walking back into the room she barely heard the doors closing behind her over the rumbling thunder outside. The thunder was even fake, probably just a recording of the real thing. She looked around the room again before walking over to the single, eight like shaped door that she assumed to be the bathroom. She opened it carefully to find it was indeed the bathroom and empty of life. It had the exact same facilities as the sub, a toilet where the bowl protruded out more than it should, a bathtub that looked like two eights laying together on their sides, and a floor to ceiling shower with skew rectangular shaped clear doors. She couldn't help but notice the layout of the bathroom, despite the odd shapes of the facilities, were in the same locations as those in their room on the sub.

Kneading her eyebrows in confusion, she walked back out of the bathroom and looked over the room again. She easily noticed that the layout of the room was almost the exact same as her room back on Luminous. The only major difference was she didn't have round bed, there was no canopy, she had a balcony here instead of a window seat, the bathroom and closet were on the opposite sides of the room, and the door to leave this room was in a different place as well. She hugged Law's hat to her chest. "This is just very weird. This place kind of looks like a mixed up version of our room on the sub and the one we stayed in on Luminous. Is this all just a coincident or was it done on purpose?"

She closed the bathroom door and walked over to the other double doors in the room. She opened it to find it was a closet filled with clothes and fluffy looking house shoes. There was a variety of clothing that was light pastel colors. They all had strange angle cuts to them around their neck, legs, and arms. She shook her head. These clothes wouldn't suit her at all. Hopefully she wouldn't be here long enough to have to wear them. She closed the closet door before walking back over to the bed. She sat down on it and looked over to the bedroom door. Pulling her feet upon the bed, she continued to cling to Law's hat. She bent her head over so her nose was buried into his hat. She breathed in his scent, wondering where he and the others were right this second. Tears gathered back in her eyes. She started to debate on what she should do next. "Should I just stay right here in this room? Or should I check out the rest of the house? It doesn't seem like there's anyone else here. If there were surely they would have noticed me outside a while ago. I wonder what Law would say about all of this. What would he want me to do? Trust my instincts most likely. But I'm not sure if I can. The only situation I've been in that's similar to this is when the Elementals took me. At least they were there and told me what was going on more or less. Here I'm totally in the dark and alone."

Suddenly, Neo's instincts kicked in and she sense someone was coming up from behind her. Tightening her hold on Law's hat, she pretended to be deep in thought until she couldn't hold her ground anymore. With lightning fast reflexes, she summoned a wind crystal, jumped off the bed, and trapped whoever was behind her in a whirlwind. She moved into attack but stopped when a rather cheerful voice cried out, "Weeeee! Faster! Faster! Go faster!"

"Faster…what the…" Neo slowed down her whirlwind. When she did her eyes widened at the thing she had captured. Spinning around in her whirlwind was a creature about three inches tall. Its skin was a light orange, its hair was a pumpkin orange and all of it was style up into a point, while its eyes were a bright orange with a darker orange pupil that was shaped like a cat's pupil. The fabric the creature wore was a one shoulder strap revealing midriff leaf shaped top, with matching shorts, the color was a brownish orange that reminded her of fall leaves on certain islands they had stopped at before. Her eyes went to the creature's back. She blinked at the dragonfly shaped wings. They were black on the outline and sparkling veins that ran over the rest of the transparent wings. "What…what are you?"

"I'm Time Sprite!" The little orange creature smiled brightly as she chirped her reply. "I'm Time Sprite! Time Sprite! Sprite Time!"

"It's okay. You don't have to be scared of us," a familiar female voice said.

Neo looked up to where the voice was coming from to see two more of these creatures hovering near by. They both had bluish green hair and their skin was four shades lighter than their hair. Their eyes had the same pupil shape as the orange sprite. The girl's hair was long and pulled up in two pigtails on top of her head. Her top was a two toned grey strapless bra that hugged her small chest tight, her pants were grey and straight legged but flared out at the bottom with square patches on them. She had silver braces that seemed to hover above her wrists and ankles that didn't move no matter if she was moving or keeping still. The boy beside her was wearing a white open vest with no buttons or any other kind of latch and his pants were baggy and black. His hair was cut short and spiky. Their facial structures were the same so she guessed they were twins.

"She was just curious," the female said as she and the boy continued to hover in the air. They had dragonfly like wings as well. Only theirs were transparent bluish green with the same black outline and sparkling veins. "We're not here to hurt you."

"I thought I was dreaming before," Neo replied as she released the creature from her whirlwind. It caught the creature by surprise and she fell a few inches before zipping back up into the air with a happy giggle. "But clearly I wasn't."

"That's correct," the oldest girl said. "We're just as real as you are. I know things are a bit confusing for you right now, but I assure you are safe with us."

"I'm safe with you," Neo mumbled.

"That's true! That's true!" The orange sprite flew up into her face. "You trust us, don't you?! We good! We're friends now!"

"Well, I, uh." Neo looked over these three again. She wasn't sure if she trusted them just yet, but she knew they weren't here to hurt her. If they would they had plenty of chances to do that when she was asleep. "I'm not really sure. I'm still a bit confused at all of this. But I do believe that you are not a threat to me. If you were you wouldn't have waited until I woke up to reveal yourselves to me."

"So you're not really with him, huh?" the boy asked.

Neo turned her attention to him. She noticed he was inspecting every inch of her body. She also noticed when his eyes paused on her stomach. His cheeks flushed pink before he could look away from her. She then remembered they had already figured out that she was pregnant. But she brushed it aside for now. Something else was more important. She asked, "What do you mean? Not with who?"

"Pendumdum!" The little girl threw out her hands and legs while giggling wildly.

"Pendulum," the oldest girl corrected.

"Pendulum?" Neo asked. "Who's that?"

"Pendulum is the guy who most likely brought you here," the boy said while shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Why?! Was he the one who sent that strange blob thing to attack us?! Did he take my friends too?! Do you know where they are?!" Neo asked, her words practically running together in one long question. "Do you know how I can find them?! I really, really need to get back to them!"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, honey." The older girl held up her hands. "Calm down. Are you saying there's more of you here?"

"Well, they're not here in this place. I don't sense Law, Chopper, Bepo, or Luffy anywhere near by." Neo flinched and pressed his hat harder to her chest.

"Who Law? Law who?" The little girl flew up to Neo's face. "You call his name when you were sleeping too."

"Law is my husband," Neo answered.

"What's husband?" The girl tilted her head.

Neo blinked in confusion. "You don't know what a husband is? Where exactly am I?"

"He's her helpmate, Celeste," the older girl said then snapped her fingers. "Oh, right! We really should introduce ourselves." She jerked her thumb at Celeste. "As I've already just said this little lass here is Celeste. My name is Velocity. The more quiet one over here is my brother, Elian."

"My name's Neo." Neo looked back at Elian who adverted his eyes from hers. "And, yes, as you have already guessed, I am pregnant."

Elian laughed nervously while rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry. We didn't mean to intrude or anything."

"Neo! Neo!" Celeste cheered. "Pregnant! Pregnant!" She flew down to Neo's stomach. "Hello, baby! I Celeste! Nice to meet you!"

"I doubt the baby's old enough to hear you, Celeste," Elian said.

"How far along are you?" Velocity asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"I'm going into my fourth month," Neo said. "So where exactly am I? And who's this Pendulum you mentioned before? Is he holding my friends hostage as well?"

"Well, you're in the Time Stream," Velocity replied. She flew over to the balcony and looked up at the dome ceiling. She waved her hand in the air. A bluish green glowing gathered around her hand before shooting up to the dome roof, suddenly the rain stopped pounding down on the balcony. "Come look."

As Neo walked over, she saw Velocity waving her hand again. A telescope appeared on the balcony. Elian and Celeste flew passed her. Stepping out on the balcony, she looked up to see a glowing bluish green shield had been formed before she dropped her eyes down to watched as Elian repositioned the telescope while Velocity looked into the glass and shouted out commands to him in a language that she didn't understand or recognize. He obeyed her orders and changed the angle of the telescope.

Velocity then looked back up to Neo. "Here. Take a look inside."

Neo nodded and stepped over to the device. She leaned over and peered into it. She gasped in shock at what she saw. There were countless domes of all sizes hovering in an unseen stream of something. "What…what is this?"

"It the Time Stream," Elian said. "This is our world. We are literally floating in the stream of time from your world."

Neo jerked back from the telescope. Her eyes shot to the little sprites standing on the device. "Are you saying that I'm not in my own time or my own world? I'm in the future or something?"

"Well, you're not in your world at all, but you still are, sort of in your own timeline," Velocity said as she sat down on the telescope.

"I don't understand," Neo said, shaking her head. "What do you mean?"

"It's not an easy thing to understand, but I'll try. Our world is a different world from your own. We're floating in the Time Stream that is in a constant state of flowing between the past, present, and the many possibilities of the future. We don't stop for anything and if we leave the protective spheres of the domes we could be lost in time forever and mess up the delicate balance of time."

"Where did this place come from?" Neo asked.

"It's been here since the beginning of time," Elian said. "Just like your own, there have been several debates on where the Time Stream actually came from. Some believe God created this place as well as us, while others believe that a god of time actually created the time along side some others gods who created things like animals, the air, the water, fire, and so on."

"I'm not sure I really understand, but I guess I don't really care about all of that. I'm more concerned about finding Law and the others. How do I find them? Where did they go?" Neo asked her voice rising in panic. She wanted to cling harder onto Law's hat, but also didn't want to damage it with her fingernails. Tears swelled up in her eyes again before leaking down her cheeks. "Please, tell me I can get to them. I…I need them. I need Law."

"No cry! No cry!" Celeste pouted. She flew over and hugged Neo's cheek. "Pretty girl don't need to be sad! Friends be all right!"

"She's correct, Neo. I'm sure your friends and your husband will be just fine," Velocity said as she rose to be eye level with Neo. Reaching out, she brushed a tear away.

"But where are they? And why did that guy bring us here to this place?" Neo wiped her tears away and exhaled.

"My guess is they are probably on other Time Domes," Elian said as he rubbed his chin. "Since you're alive here and he took the time to actually bring you here, it should be safe to say that they all are alive as well."

"Is there a way to get to them?" Neo asked. "To the other Time Domes?"

"There use to be." Velocity flew closer over to the edge of the balcony. She landed then pointed downward. "See that pedestal down there? The stone laying in it is a Time Sphere."

"Time Sphere?" Neo questioned as she looked over the edge. "I saw that before. It looks like a giant pearl. What is it?"

"It's the device we use to jump from Time Dome to Time Dome. Usually it glows a soft off white, but it hasn't done that in about five hundred years now. Since that time we've all been stuck on the Time Domes we were in when they stopped working," Velocity explained.

"Why did they stop?" Neo asked.

"We assume they were damaged in a battle between Pendulum and Empress Futura. Pendulum's been trying to take over the Time Stream for centuries," Elian replied.

"Take over the Time Stream?" Neo asked. "What is he wanting to do with it? And what does this have to do with me and my friends?"

"Pendulum is just a power hungry, sadistic jerk," Velocity said, twirling a strained of her hair. "We have no idea what he's really after or what he would want with people who don't live here." She pointed to the lighthouse structure. "Whatever it is it has something to do with that strange building out there. He built it a short time ago."

Neo looked to the structure she tried to get close to before. She barely notice Elian landed on her shoulder. She flinched lightly at his touch, but remained surprisingly calm. He said, "For your safety, it's best to stay away from that place. If Pendulum catches you there he might hurt you."

"So that guy is here somewhere?" Neo asked.

"He's been coming and going since he started building that thing out there," Elian replied as he sat down on her shoulder.

"But you said no one can travel anymore," Neo pointed out.

"We can't, but somehow he still can," Velocity said, tapping her chin in thought. "I bet that's how he brought you all to the Time Stream. He brought you here through whatever means that's letting him travel back and forth to this place. The only questions we don't have answer to are, 'How is he able to travel?' and 'Why did he bring you all here in the first place?'. If only we could get a message to Empress Futura. She might be able to help." She fell back on the balcony railing. "Ugh! Why do we have to be stuck here?! It's driving me insane that I can't leave!"

"How long have you been here?" Neo asked. "And are you three the only one's here?"

"No, we're not the only three. There are others. The Time Sprites have always lived here," Elian said. "The ones who live here maintain this dome for travelers or vacationers. Since Pendulum has taken over this place the Time Sprites remain hidden inside the mechanical workings of this dome."

"So there are other Time Sprites on the other domes?" Neo asked.

"That's correct," Elian said with a nod. "Every Time Domes has Time Sprites that take care of them and the weather."

"So the weather isn't real," Neo said with a sigh.

"I'm afraid not," Velocity said. "It's impossible to have real weather inside of here. The domes are very thick and hard to break, but they're not impossible to break. It would cause a lot of damage to the time stream if they were broken and all of the people in the dome were lost in time."

"Lost in time," Neo said. "I think I can see how that would cause a lot of trouble. They could alter someone's future."

"You got it." Elian nodded.

"Time Sprites! Time Sprites!" Celeste cheered as she did cartwheels through the air. "Time Sprites keep domes happy!"

"And that would explain why a lot of the plants here aren't real either," Neo mumbled.

"What do you mean by that?" Elian asked. "And since we're asking questions, you don't exactly feel like anyone we've ever met before. I'm not sure how to explain it, but you feel very different."

"I didn't notice that before," Velocity said. She sat up and looked up at Neo.

"Oh, um." Neo bit her bottom lip. She still felt slightly unsure about these creatures. But they were being so helpful she didn't fell to good about keeping her most of her identity a secret. "Well, the thing is, I, uh…"

"You're a shy one, huh?" Velocity smiled at her. "And you're not very trusting."

"I'm sorry," Neo mumbled. "It's nothing personal. I just…"

"Don't worry about it." Velocity waved her hand dismissively. "We understand that trust is earned. I'd be cautious too if I got dropped in the middle of a strange new world without my helpmate and friends and had three strange creatures suddenly popped up out of no where with a bizarre story about total time take over from a sadistic sociopath."

"Story! Story! Bizarre Story!" Celeste chirped while she made loops in the air.

Neo raised an eyebrow at the orange sprite. "She's a bit…unique."

"It's best to just ignore her most of the time. She still has a few years before she hits maturity," Elian said. He then chuckled and added, "Plus, I think she hit her head a couple times when she was learning to fly."

Neo slowly nodded as she continued to study the little orange creature that was still making loops in the air. Her stomach then released a low growl before anyone else could say anything. She felt her cheeks heat up and remembered she had, involuntarily, gave up everything that was in her stomach.

Elian flew off her shoulder and looked at her. He said, "We should get you something to eat. You really need to remain strong and healthy since your pregnant."

"Oh, yes." Velocity clapped her hands together then joined her brother in the air. "We must get you and your baby something to eat."

"Is the food safe for me to eat?" Neo asked. "I mean, since I'm not from this world?"

"Yes, it's safe for you and your baby," Velocity said. "While it's not typical for people from your world to come here, we have on occasion had people stumble into this world. Some of them have even chosen to stay in the Time Domes with permission from the empress. Our food will look and taste different from yours, but it's eatable."

"And it's very healthy for you and your baby," Elian added.

"That's good to hear. Law will be pleased," Neo said.

"Let's get you something to eat now." Velocity waved for Neo to follow her back inside.

"Eat! Eat! Let's eat!" Celeste said. She flew past them all and right over to the door. She opened it and disappeared into the hall before the remaining three even entered into the bedroom.

When they got to the door, Neo hesitated. Through the now open door, she carefully scanned the hallway and the doors before stepping out of the room. The building felt a lot more inviting and less lonely with these three around, but she still knew she needed to take precautions until she knew more about this place and why Pendulum brought her here. Law would want her to as well. She brought his hat to her nose, breathing in his scent before she finally walked through the hall. Cautiously, she glanced at the doors as she passed them. She remained ready to summon her crystals if she needed them. But nothing came out of them and she had reached the stairs before she knew it.

She looked at them. There were actually two sets of stairs. One went down while the other went up. Both the stairs led to another platform before another set of stairs descended or ascended from it. She went down. Standing on the second platform she found the stairs going down into the living room. There were two L shaped couches, each long enough to hold ten people on each wing. Between the couches were several organically shaped armchairs that were accompanied by organic shaped mini tables with one leg each that hovered inches above the floor. Opposite from the main doors she saw from outside was a couple other doors that she assumed was a bathroom and possibly more bedrooms. And opposite from where she currently was standing was another doorway that didn't have a door. It was opened up to the kitchen when the sprites had just entered into.

She continued on down the stairs. She walked over to the kitchen and stepped inside of it. Calmly, she inspected this place like all the others. The cabinets, fridge, counters, table, chairs, everything was organically shaped. Her eyes stopped on the large fridge. It took up an entire wall. "Sanji would really love this kitchen."

"Sanji?" Elian questioned. "He one of your friends?" He waved to a chair. "Please, sit down and rest."

"Yes, he's the cook of the Straw Hat pirates," Neo nodded and sat down in one of the chair that looked to be hovered over the floor. She tested it and found that the legs were just very thin at the bottom and it was stable before sitting down. She kept Law's hat in her lap as her eyes followed the sprites around the room. They opened the fridge door and pulled out several objects using their magic that Velocity had displayed before. Or she and Elian did. Celesta was busy using her orange colored magic to ride around on a jar of something.

"Pirates?" Velocity asked, pausing for a second to look at Neo. "Are you a pirate as well?"

Neo twitched, wondering if she shouldn't have said anything about being pirates or not. "Well, yes. I'm the co-captain of the Heart Pirates. My husband, Law, is the captain and one of the founders of our crew."

"I see," Velocity said, before proceeding to lay her items out on the table and counter top.

"You don't mind that I'm a pirate?" Neo asked, carefully.

"Not really," Velocity said, heading over to the stove. She pulled out an organic shaped pan, placed it on the burner, and turned on the stove with a push of a button before scooping some grey stuff out of a jar. When the contents of the jar hit the hot pan it sizzled like bacon would but smelled sour.

"So what kind of magic do you three have?" Neo asked when the pirate talk didn't go any farther. "It is magic, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's magic. And, well, we can make things float, obviously." Velocity giggled as she placed another plate of food on the table using her magic. "We can change things shapes, colors, transport things short distances, basic stuff like that."

"You should eat," Elian said.

Neo looked down when he pushed a plate closer to her. It was filled with food that she couldn't identify. Her grip grew tighter on Law's hat. She wondered if this was a good idea after all. Surely these little creatures weren't lying to her. She would have sensed it if she couldn't trust them. Still, she hesitated. She had a baby inside of her to think of not just herself.

Elian then grabbed some of the food to prove his point. "You don't have to worry. We're not trying to poison you or anything. Our food here is very healthy. And it tastes great too. Well, it does to us since we've lived here our entire lives. It might taste a bit odd to you at first. And I'm sure you'll have your likes and dislikes of the food. But that's okay. We can always cook what you like when you figure that out."

"Yummy good food! Yummy good food!" Celeste chirped before diving into something that looked similar to jello. When she popped back out of it, she licked the stuff off her hands and arms. "Yummy!"

"Celeste!" Elian said, crossing his arms over his chest. "That's food! Not a cleaning tub!"

"Food tub!" Celesta chirped with a giggle. "Tastes better than water!"

Elian sighed. "You're such a child."

"Here you go," Velocity said when she brought over whatever she was cooking. "Careful now. They're still hot."

"What are they?" Neo asked.

"They're bercons," Velocity replied.

"Bercons?" Neo tilted her head.

"Just try them," Velocity said. "They're kind of sweet but also salty."

Neo blinked down at the grey blobs on the plate. They really didn't look very appetizing at all. She wondered if she should just grow her own fruits and vegetables like she normally did. But the more she just sat there staring at the food, the more she wanted to just eat it. Plus, she knew she would get tired of constantly eating the same thing over and over again. She didn't know how long she was going to be here after all. She might not have a choice. Her magic did still occasionally cut out on her. She reached out, picking up what she thought was their version of a fork, which only had two prongs on it, and stuck it into the bercon. Bringing it up to her face, she sniffed it before putting it into her mouth. Its texture was smooth and it did taste sweet and salty. The sweetness reminded her of a strawberry while the salty part reminded her of bacon. "It's not bad at all."

"Glad to hear that," Velocity said before joining the others at the table.

Neo soon found herself picking at everything they had set out. Just like she did at new restaurants they visited, she tried a little of everything. She found she liked most of the stuff. Some of it, however, she didn't care for at all. And those typically ended up having a very bitter tastes. One thing that she really enjoyed eating was a little carnation looking flower that tasted like vanilla pudding. It had a velvet texture to it and had almost zero sugar in it. Just as their lunch was winding down there was a strange change in the pressure around them. "What's going on?"

Elian said something in the strange language she heard Velocity use upstairs while he and his sister, who grabbed Celeste's wrists, ducked down behind some dishes. Velocity clamped her hand over Celeste's mouth while Elian pinned down the young girl's hands and wings.

Neo jumped to her feet when a strange man wearing a grey and purple robe appeared in the room. She started to back away from him, but paused when he took to one knee. "Who…are you?"

He crossed a pastel blue skinned hand over his chest. His black mane like hair fell over his face, shoulders, and fish like ears. He said, "Welcome to the Time Stream, Elemental Princess Neo of Luminous. I see you have already made yourself at home here." He looked over at the sprites. "And made some new friends. I'm sure they have already told you all about me but I'll formally introduce myself anyway. I am Pendulum. The one who brought you to this Time Dome."

"H-how did…how did you know that I'm a princess and an Elemental?" Neo stuttered as she took a cautious step back from him. She took another step back when he looked at her with hollow yellow eyes. She felt like his gaze was suffocating her. She had to moved her eyes up to look between his eyebrows.

"I know all about you, Princess of the Elementals." He smiled, but it wasn't warm or inviting. It was more like a victorious smile, like he had won a game or something and knew he was going to win from the beginning. "I've been watching you and your friends for quite some time now."

"My friends! Law! Give him back! Give them all back to me right this second!" Neo narrowed her eyebrows at him. She clenched Law's hat and summoned as many of her crystals that she could possibly fit into this room. Without another warning, she fired all of them at him. She gasped when her attack suddenly stopped moving. It just hovered in the air. "What the…what did you just do?"

"Now, settle down, Princess." Pendulum said.

Neo froze when she sensed the man was now behind her. _But how? I didn't see him move at all. Is he just really fast?_ She shivered when he leaned closer to her ear. She knew she should move away. She wanted to move away. But her body for some reason wouldn't listen to her. It was like whatever had frozen her attack in place also had a grip on her.

"Easy now. I'm sure your precious lover wouldn't want you to be stupid and hurt yourself before he can reunite with you," he whispered.

Neo shivered again at his warm breath fanning out over her skin. She hated that he was this close to her, close enough to touch.

"And I know all about your phobia," he said.

Neo swallowed. She could feel him lifting up his hand. She could feel his hand reaching out for her neck.

"You wouldn't want me to touch you, now do you?" he asked.

Neo clenched Law's hat. She took a couple deep breaths as her angry flared inside of her. "Why are you doing this? Just give him back to me. Give them all back to me."

"In _time_." Pendulum chuckled at his own joke and pulled away from her.

Relief washed over her body when he moved away. She watched as he walked calmly around the kitchen, grabbing some food off the table and tossing it into his mouth. After swallowing he said, "I'll give them all back to you in time. For now, you'll just have to be patient for them to get their tasks done."

"What tasks?" Neo asked.

"I just need their assistance in retrieving something from other Time Domes. And as soon as they get them, they'll be brought here to you. So just relax for now and enjoy your new home."

"This is _not_ my home! It will never be my home! What are you forcing them to do?! Where are they?!" Neo demanded. "Are they hurt?! Your blob thing hurt my brother! Let me go see him! I can heal him!"

"With the exception of your…brother, no they are not hurt. You don't have to worry about him. He'll be fine. The wound isn't that bad at all. He and his two friends will find they have everything they need to survive, they all will. And all their doing for me is retrieve some mirror shards that I lost some time ago," Pendulum said.

It made Neo's chest burn with anger. She clenched her fists over Law's hat, thunder boomed in the dark clouds that gathered near the ceiling. It sounded like all he did was just sent them to the store to pick up some milk and that they would be back in a little while.

"Easy, Princess," Pendulum said. "I'm sure the Time Sprites warned you about what would happen if you damaged the Time Dome."

Neo flinched. She forced herself to release her anger and her brewing storm.

"I know they all are pretty strong so I assume it shouldn't taken them very long to retrieve the shards. If I had to take a guess, I'd say that they all might be back with you in about a month or two."

"Two months?" Neo squeaked as all the air left her lungs. She became lightheaded and felt her knees threatening to buckle underneath her.

"I can understand why that would cause you such concern. After all you've tried to kill yourself so many times in your life before coming to live with your family. I'm sure you worry constantly about reverting back to that scared little child you were." Pendulum chuckled. "So how long do you think you can survive without them? Or, more specifically, your sweet lover? You have such a hard time sleeping without him near you."

"Shut up!" Neo snapped. "You don't know anything about us! I'm not that weak little girl anymore! I can handle this just fine! Law raised me to be able to handle myself!"

"Oh, I know _everything_ about you all, Princess," Pendulum said as he continued to walk around the table. "Like I said, I've been watching you all for a long time now. But I will do this for you. If you can be a good little princess and not try to attack me again when I visit you I'll let you see your lover."

"What?" Neo asked. "You will?"

"I will." Pendulum nodded. He then waved at her still frozen attack. "But you can't do this again when I drop in on you."

Neo gritted her teeth. His offer was tempting but she had no idea if he would really take her to Law. She didn't even know if he was the one to stop her attack in the first place. If he did, then she wouldn't be able to attack him and win anyway.

Pendulum walked back over to the spot where he appeared. He turned to her with another smile and said, "Until the next time, enjoy the comforts of this Time Dome. You're free to roam around in it as long as you stay away from the other structure outside. It isn't complete yet and I don't want it to be damaged. Farewell, Princess Neo of Luminous."

Pendulum then disappeared from the room. When he was gone, Neo's attack came back to life. It hit the wall of the kitchen.

Neo felt her head spinning like crazy. She barely was able to call the elements back into her crystals before placing her hand over her mouth. She gagged. Her stomach threatening to release everything she just ate once again. She dropped to her knees and gagged again. She barely noticed one of the sprites landing on her shoulder or the fact that which everyone it was began to rubbed their hand on her shoulder.

"There, there. Calm down now, honey. Just take slow deep breaths. It'll be all right," Velocity's voice said. "I promise it'll be okay."

"No cry. No cry. Pretty girl shouldn't be sad," Celesta said. "Please no cry."

"Is it true what Pendulum said?" Elian asked carefully. "Are you really a princess?"

Neo looked up at him. With a few deep breaths, she told them everything about herself.

…

 **Author's Note: Some chapters aren't going to come out as long as others. And I don't think I'm going to linger much in the Time Domes. I do have other stories I was to do. So we'll just see what happens.**


	8. Into the Domes P1

Into the Domes

Part One

Law pulled back his fist. He swung it forward hitting the tree again and again and again. The leaves falling down from his hits started to look like blizzard of green snowflakes floating down to the ground. His skin split even farther apart. Blood dripped down his hand and all over the innocent tree in front of him. With each hit, he cursed under his breath. When he finally got his hands on that Pendulum guy, he was going to make him pay with his life.

"You need to calm down," Nami, the forgotten pirate, said.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do!" Law hissed. He whipped around to glare at the orange haired woman. He really didn't want to deal with her right now. All he wanted to do was find that man and kill him in several painful ways.

Nami flinched at his harsh glare but held strong in her stance. And despite the desire to run as far away from Law as she possibly could, she knew she couldn't. They were stuck here. They had to rely on each other. At least until they could figure out where exactly they are. Taking in a deep breath, she addressed him. "Look, normally, I wouldn't even think about thinking about telling you what to do because, quite frankly, you scare me, a lot. I know that you can easily kill me if you wanted to. But in this particular case I have to tell you that you need to calm down. You have a predictable tendency to get a little crazy and unfocused when Neo isn't by your side or with a member of your crew or with one of us Straw Hats. She _needs_ you to focus right now. While I need that levelheadedness of yours right now, I'm not telling you to calm down for my sake. I'm telling you to calm down for Neo's sake. Obviously you want to get her back, we all do. And we _will_ get her back. She knows how to take care of herself. Sure she's going to be scared when she wakes up, but she knows that you'll come for her. She knows that we all will come for her. And to make that happen we both need calm and clear heads. We have no idea exactly where we are or what dangers we're going to face while we're here. Since that guy went to the trouble of bringing your sword here too when you didn't have it with you before, it's a pretty safe bet to say we're going to run into some trouble here."

Law turned his back to her. He didn't want to hear anymore. He knew she was correct. He just didn't want to admit it. They were stuck here. They had no one else to rely on but themselves and each other. Reaching into the front of his suit, he pulled out the chain that his wedding ring was attached to. He ran his thumb over the engraving. The same exact engraving that Neo had on her ring he had bought her so long ago. He wondered if she was awake yet. He wondered if she realized that he wasn't with her, that no one was with her. Was she going to be okay? Could she hold it together when she realized they weren't going to be able to come to her immediately? How was her stress going to affect their baby? He clenched his hand over his ring. He had to force himself to stop thinking about that. Neo would do what she needed to do when it came to their baby. He knew she would use their baby to keep herself under control and as calm as she possibly could. And he couldn't be anymore glad that he had placed his hat on her head when he warped it to them. She had that with her. It would, without a doubt, help keep her calm.

"Well, we can't do anything right now anyway. The sun's starting to set. I'll gather up some wood and start a fire for us. Hopefully while it gives us warmth it'll scare of whatever creatures roam this forest at night. We should also probably take turns keeping watch until we know if we're in enemy territory or not." With that said, Nami turned away from her angry companion. Using what little light she had that was peaking through the leaves and branches, she gathered up enough wood to start their fire. She was very grateful she had gotten her weather baton back from those kids. It was already coming in handy. She twirled the baton then pulled down a lightning bolt. With a loud crack, the lightning hit the wood, setting it ablaze. She watched it to make sure it wasn't going to go out before heading off to look for more wood to get them through the night. Once she had enough for the night, she sat down near the crackling fire. Her eyes flittered to Law. He was still standing with his back turned to her. She sighed. "Look, Tra, it's really going to be okay. We'll get the shard as quickly as we can then we'll be reunited with her. It'll do you no good to just stand there brooding."

Nami sighed again when he showed no response to her words. She didn't think he heard her at all. So she was surprised when she saw him walking over to the fire and sit down across from her. His wedding ring was dangling outside of his suit, the fire flicking off of its shiny surface as it swung. Seeing that she knew he had been standing there the entire time just looking at it. "Hey, you and Neo still have your Projection thing. You can always project yourself to her. Surely she's close enough for that."

"No." Law shook his head. "We don't use that unless we know we're in a safe place and being guarded by at least one of our crew."

"Well, I'm here. You can try it if you want," Nami said.

"That would be stupid," Law said. "If I did Project myself to her we could get ambushed. And, let's face it, you're not the strongest pirate in the world. Leaving you alone could cause the death of us both."

"I guess you have a point there," Nami said. She placed her hands on the ground behind her and leaned back. "At least she can still Project herself to you."

"She won't do that if she doesn't feel safe enough to do it," Law said. "It's possible that we won't even see each other until we've gotten that stupid shard for that guy."

Nami sighed for a third time. She knew Law was correct. He knew Neo better than she did after all. She turned her eyes to the forest. Dark shadows were starting to take over it as the sun fell farther and farther away. Her stomach rumbled a little. It reminded her that it's been a while since she had eaten. And since those kids stole their stuff they all ran off without finishing their meals, except for Luffy who easily grabbed it all and ate it. She hoped that her stomach wouldn't keep her up all night. And she hope the locate towns had good enough food to eat. With nothing else to do or talk about, she stared into the fire along with Law. She only looked up occasionally to see if her male companion had fallen asleep yet. He hadn't. He was still staring off into the fire, his mind obviously where Neo currently was. wherever that actually was.

"You should sleep," Law said a few hours later. "I'll keep first watch."

"Okay," Nami said. She laid down on the hard ground, instantly missing her comfortable bed back on the Sunny. She closed her eyes, leaving Law to his guard as she drifted off.

…

Law was still staring into the fire way passed the sun rising in the sky. He didn't even notice that the orange haired navigator had gotten up until she spoke.

"Did you stay up all night?" Nami asked. "You were suppose to switch watch with me. Now you're going to be tired all day."

"I'll be fine," Law said.

Knowing arguing with him would get her nowhere she turned her attention to their monkey companion. It was right where it was last night. It hadn't moved at all. She narrowed her eyebrows at it. "You are really creepy, you know? Do you really have to stare off in space like that?" She sighed unsure of why she was expecting it to answer. "It's really going to get annoying having you follow us around and watch our every move. So, you going to show us where we're supposed to go? Or do we just follow you like a dog?"

The monkey's eyes lit up. A beam of light shot out forming a map for them to follow. Nami got up and walked over to it. Kneeling down, she rubbed her chin as she studied the map before her. She pointed at three dots and said, "I think this is us." She pointed to the other dot. "And I'm pretty sure that this lone dot over here is the shard. I wonder how far it is away from us. There are some kind of lines on the map too. I think they're words, but I'm not sure. We might be in a location where people speak a different language than we do. That's not going to be good. We won't be able to get information if we can't understand what they're saying."

"Then let's get it and get out of here," Law grumbled. He pushed himself to his feet. Loosened up his tie, he walked over to his almost forgotten sword. He rolled up his sleeves before picking it up. He turned back to Nami. "Let's go."

"All right, monkey," Nami said, standing up. She kicked dirt over the fire, making sure it was out completely before turning her attention back to the monkey. "You heard the man. Let's go."

The monkey turned and with the map fading away, it headed off into the forest. Nami and Law followed after it. The only sounds between them were the chirping of unseen birds, rustling of leaves as they pushing through bushes, and their footsteps on the forest floor. No words at all passed between them. Not that there was much to talk about. Law wasn't that much of a talker anyway. So the silence didn't bother him at all. Nami, however, was use to talking. She didn't care much for the silence. Still, she remained quiet. All she had on her mind was their friends and the shard. And right now they've said all they could about that.

"Is it getting hotter to you?" Nami asked about forty five minutes later. Both their bodies were almost soaked in their sweat. The combination of the smoke that clung to their clothes, hair, and skin didn't mix well at all with the sweat. She knew they had to stink. She grabbed the end of her shirt and tied it up to allow her body to cool off some. Law had removed his jacket and tied it around his waist. "I really think it's getting hotter. Are we in a desert? We can't be. Trees like these don't grow in deserts. Are we almost out of this forest yet?"

Law didn't answer. And neither did the monkey. They just continued to push through the thick brush for a few more minutes before finally finding an end to the forest. Nami let out a grumble sigh of relief. "Finally! I was beginning to think we were never going to get out of here! I really need some water!" She gasped when they broke through the last of the bushes. "Wow! It looks like Alabasta, minus the desert."

Down the hill from where they stood was a large mansion surrounded by a high stone fence with two large iron gates and soldiers lined up along the sides. On the sides of the mansion, but for the forest side where they were standing, was a city. Without a word, they descended down the hill of brownish green grass and made their way closer to the mansion. When they got about a hundred yards from the stone fence their monkey companion started to malfunction. It crackled, snapped, and screeched.

"What's wrong with it?" Law asked as Nami knelt down to look at the monkey.

"I don't know. It just started going berserk," Nami grabbed the monkey and moved it back a few steps in the direction they came from. It went back to normal and tried to move forward again. But when it got back to the hundred yard mark, it went berserk. She pulled the monkey back again and asked for the map. "Show me the map again. That's odd. It's working just fine now. It looks like the monkey can't get any closer for some reason. But the shard _is_ in that place. Our dots are practically sitting on top of it."

"Then forget the stupid monkey." Law started to turn back towards the mansion. They were so close. They could get it in just a few seconds. Then he'll be able to get back to Neo. "We don't need it anymore. Let's just get the shard and get out of here."

"Halt! State your name and purpose for being here!" a voice demanded.

The pirates whipped around to see a couple people walking up to them. When they got closer the two pirates noticed the two people were dressed in guard uniforms and they weren't human. They looked like dragons with human features. One of them had green skin while the other had blue skin. The color of their hair was hidden under their hats, but their eyes were solid black with only a small fraction of light glinting off them. The one who spoke before spoke up again after releasing a puff of fire from his mouth, revealing his sharp teeth. "Speak! What is your purpose for being here?!"

"At easy, Uther," the blue guard held out his hand, revealing his two inch long claws. "They are obviously not from this sector. They must have gotten separated from their tour group. One just passed by a few minutes ago."

Uther let out a disapproval grunt. "This tourist drive is a bad idea. I've always said that. You'd think they would have learned by now how stupid is really is. They're just asking for trouble with it."

"Tourist drive?" Nami whispered to Law. "What do you think that means? Is this place famous or something?"

Law didn't respond. He kept his eyes locked onto the two dragon like creatures. He tightened his hold on his sword. He carefully studied their bodies. From the clothes they were wearing he couldn't decide if they were very muscular or not. But since they were like dragons and could obviously breath fire, he figured they were going to be rather strong opponents.

"Forgive my friend Uther here. He's on edge lately. We all have been." The blue guarded turned back to Law and Nami. "See, the family that lives in this mansion, their daughter has been almost kidnapped six times now."

"I see." Nami smiled sweetly at the guards. "Well, I'm sorry we gave you the idea we were up to something no good. I assure you we are not here to kidnap anyone. We just got a little lost, that's all. You were correct in guessing that we're not from this place."

"I can see that. You are much to pretty to be a heartless kidnapper." The blue guard smiled and Uther rolled his eyes.

"Ah, that's so sweet of you," Nami said. "My name is Nami." She gestured to Law. "And this is Trafalgar Law."

"My name is Volos. Welcome to Adalinda," Volos said.

"Adalinda? Where in the New World is that?" Nami asked.

"New World?" Uther laughed. "Are you ill or something?"

"What's so funny? All I asked is where in the New World we are." Nami raised an eyebrow at the laughing dragon like person.

"We have never heard of this New World." Volos shot a disapproving glance at his fellow guard before turning a warm smile back to Nami. "Is that the name of the sector you are from?"

Nami looked over at Law. He didn't return her glance as he looked around. His eyebrows were kneaded in confusion and worry. She turned her eyes back to the two guards. "Are we back in the East Blue? Or maybe the Grand Line? I've never heard of an island like this before."

"East Blue? Grand Line?" Uther laughed again. "You come up with some of the craziest names, little girl."

"Then where the heck are we?!" Nami demanded as panic began to settle into her stomach and chest. "What island are we on?!"

"I already told you that you two are in Adalinda." Volos was now giving her a concerned look, like she was mentally losing it. "The Hydra Sector of the Serpent Dome. Where did you think you were?"

"Come to think of it, neither of you look like nor smell like any serpents that I've seen," Uther said as he rubbed his chin and looked Nami and Law up and down. He then took notice of the monkey on the ground. He poked at it with his security stick. "What manor of creature is this?"

"It's my, uh, pet," Nami said carefully. She picked up the monkey and took a few steps backwards from the guards. She looked over at Law. He finally looked at her and nodded. They both had the same thought. They needed to get away from this area and find out more information on where they were and what they were really dealing with here. "Well, it was really nice to meet both of you, but we really have to go. Got to catch up with our tour group and all."

"Well, if you would wait a few minutes another tour will be coming by soon. You can catch a ride with them," Volos called to them as they started to walk off. "They'll be meeting up with the rest of the tour groups so you can join your friends."

"That's okay," Nami called back to him. "We'll walk! It's not that far so we don't mind! Thanks for all your help! Bye!"

The two pirates rushed towards the city. From their currently location, it was about a half a mile from the mansion to the city so walking wasn't going to be an issue except for the heat. They just really needed to get away from those two guards before they blew their cover. Nami held on tightly to the monkey as they quickened their steps. She glanced over her shoulder to see if the guards were following them. When she saw that they were walking back towards the mansion, she relaxed. "They're not following us. Okay, so where the heck did that guy bring us to? They've never heard of the Grand Line or the New World or even the East Blue. Did that guy bring us to another planet or something?"

"We're just going to have to ask someone," Law said.

"Ask? After the looks those two gave us back there? You really want us to ask? " Nami stopped walking. "Tell me you're joking. If we say the wrong thing the people here could lock us up in some crazy mental house." She then held out the monkey by its neck. "And not to mention this thing here. We have to watch what we say around it too."

"Do you have a better idea?" Law turned to her.

"We do the most logical thing," Nami said. "We go to the library."

Law sighed. Sure that was the most logical thing to do outside of asking since asking could cause them trouble. And with the looks those other two people were giving them, they really didn't need to take the chance of getting locked up. He was sure he could warp them out of trouble, but he still didn't need to take any unnecessary risks. He had to silently admit to himself that he was grateful the Straw Hat navigator was here. He really needed someone to hold him down like this and do the thinking for him until he could get his own brain to work correctly again. "Fine. We'll get to the city and find the library."

"Good." Nami nodded. The two then started walking through the sweltering heat. By the time they had gotten to the city, their clothes were stained with sweat and sticking to their hot skin. "I need a cold shower after this. It's amazing that it's this hot here when there's no desert. Or maybe this is their desert."

Law didn't reply to her as they passed through the invisible boarder of the city. He just scanned his eyes over the crowds of people. They all were just like the two serpent people they met before. Their skins were all kinds of colors, dark blues, greens, browns, reds, and even some pink ones. He gripped his sword tightly, wondering if he should have left it back in the forest somewhere. It could be illegal to carry around weapons here for all he knew. He carefully watched people's reactions, looking for any signs that would indicate to him they needed to run. But he didn't see anything. Not many people here even looked at the two pirates as they continued on bustling around the busy streets. Only a few shot them curious glances when they walked passed their booths.

"Well, other than the people here looking like dragons, there's not much difference between this place and any other islands we've been on," Nami said. "So where do you think the library is?" She looked up at a sign hanging over at storefront. She tilted her head in confusion at the marks on the sign. She couldn't read it at all. The words just looked like lines that were haphazardly thrown together. "Please tell me that's not the language here. They were speaking English. We both heard them."

"It's possible they speak more than one language here," Law said. "Look over there. That sign has a book on it. Surely that's the library or at least a bookstore."

"Hey, you're correct," Nami said, looking at the sign. "Libraries and bookstores often have books on their signs or in their windows. Good thinking, Tra."

"Let's go," Law said, leading the way over to the store. He grabbed the handle to the faded blue door and pushed it open. A brush of cooler air washed over his exposed skin upon entering. He found that the air came from a leaf fan that was hanging from the ceiling. A rope was attached to it and ran down to the old serpent lady sitting behind a counter looking really bored while she moved the fan with her tail. He shifted his sword on his shoulder when she glanced over at them from over top of her black rimmed glasses.

"Welcome to Hottie's Bookstore and Library," she said. "Feel free to look around as much as you like."

"Oh good," Nami said. "We found the correct place."

Law proceeded into the building. Walking silently through the isles of the store, his mind automatically went back to Neo, not that it ever left her. It didn't matter where he looked, everything reminded him of her. The hot weather that she would easily be able to push away with her crystals, the monkey thing they had with them would be such a disappointment to her since it was a machine, the creatures that lived here would fascinate her, and she would absolutely love all of the books in this store. He grabbed a book off a shelf and opened it. His eyebrows kneaded upon finding the same language on the sign was in the books.

"You have got to be kidding me." He heard Nami say. Placing the book back on the shelf, he turned to find the woman was flipping through a book. And judging from the small pile of books that were now laying on the floor, she had flipped through several before speaking up. "Why is it they can speak English but can't write in English? We're going to get no where like this."

Law let his eyes fall to the monkey at the navigator's feet. "We're just going to have to ask someone."

"And get thrown in whatever constitutes as the loony bin here," Nami grumbled, shoving the book back onto the shelf with angry shove. "I'm too hot and hungry to think right now. Let's get something to eat and drink. I think we'll both feel better after that."

"And what money are you planning on using? I highly doubt they use the same currency here that we do back in the New World," Law said.

"Not a problem. I've been working on that since the first step we took into the city." Nami grinned. Pulling her hand out from her pocket, she let a pouch dangle from her extended finger.

Law lifted an eyebrow at her.

"What?" Nami shrugged. "We're pirates after all."

Law nodded. They were. They could easily steal the money they needed to survive here. But that didn't mean they would know how much was how much. They were going to have to pay close attention to people when they paid for items so they could at least pretend they know what they were doing here. With nothing else to say, the two pirates headed for the door. The lady at the front bit them a farewell, but they didn't reply to her. Once outside, the silent surroundings of the library was over took by the chattering of the people. They looked down the streets before heading off to their right to see if they could find a food stand or restaurant.

Walking through the street they let their eyes roam over the booths. Several people were selling different types of handmade jewelry, soaps, some things they couldn't identify, and some uncooked foods that they also couldn't identify. Both were wondering why so many were selling uncooked food, but before either could question it, they got their answer when a young serpent breathed fire upon the piece he bought. There was no way they were going to be able to do that. So they continued on to find a place that would cook their food for them. Soon they came upon a white tent that had some people sitting underneath it eating. They decided to just stop there and eat. It seemed to be the only place they could find that wasn't selling uncooked food.

The shade from the tent was a welcome relief as they sat down at an empty table. Nami looked around and said, "I hope it's fine that we just take a seat here."

A minute later, a young serpent walked over to them. With a nice enough smile, she handed them menus and said, "Hello. Welcome to Baer. My name is Bindy. I'll be your host today. Now, what can I get for you to drink today?"

Law propped up his sword then opened the menu. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance upon finding the menu was in the same strange language that the books and signs were.

"What do you suggest for two tourists?" Nami asked. "Something that's really cool to drink would be nice."

"You're new around here, aren't you?" Bindy asked, placing her hand on her hip.

"It shows, doesn't it?" Nami smiled.

"Yeah." Bindy nodded. "I've worked here pretty much my whole live so it's easy for me to pick out tourists now."

Law bit the inside of his cheek. He knew this was where the girl was going to ask where they were from. He had no idea what they were going to tell her about where they're from. They really needed to figure out a plan for this, unless they figured out away to completely avoid people all together. But he figured that last one wasn't going to be possible at all.

"I think I know just the thing that will settle your stomachs," Bindy said. "That is, if you don't really mind me picking out your drinks and food."

"We don't mind at all," Nami said.

"All right then," she said before walking away. "I'll be right back with your drinks."

Law exhaled. He was slightly surprised that she didn't continue the conversation. But deep down he really didn't care. He sat his menu down on the table and turned his eyes out to the crowds. _Neo, are you awake yet? How are you doing? I hope you're fine. I know you're strong. I know you'll be able to handle this. Just wait for me. I will be there as soon as I can._ He sighed. He began to picture himself sitting beside Neo on the bed just waiting for her to wake up. He pictured her beautiful smile with her electric blue eyes and how innocent they made her look. His chest ached heavily to be by her side. He could feel his tears threatening to gather at the corner of his eyes. He closed his eyelids and took a slow deep breath.

"Here you go," Bindy's voice said, pulling him back to where he really was. His tears were immediately gone when she placed their drinks of bright green liquid down on the table. "I hope you like it. If not I can bring you something else to try. And, I'm really sorry for this, but it might be a while before your food comes out."

"Why?" Nami asked. "You don't really look all that busy."

"Well, we're a bit short handle lately," Bindy said. "But I promise I'll do my best to get it out as quickly as I possibly can."

"I see. Well, don't worry about it," Nami said. "We're not in a hurry to go anywhere."

"That's nice of you," Bindy said. "If you'll excuse me, I have other tables to attend. I'll bring your meal as soon as possible."

"Hey, this is good," Nami said after tasting the green liquid in front of her. "It kind of tastes like lime with a touch of lemon in it. It's a lot thicker than I thought it would be as well. It's almost like a smoothie."

Law turned his eyes back out into the world around him without even bothering to taste the drink. He was hoping for something to distract him from thinking about and worrying about Neo, but he knew that wasn't going to be possible. His mind was automatically going to be stuck on her until saw her again. Closing his eyes, he could feel her far away from him. He knew she was already awake by now. And she wasn't happy. If only he could reach out for her, to touch her with his body or mind, anything to let her know that he was still with her. He knew she knew all of that anyway, but he just want to remind her of it. He was really going to have to find something to distract himself if they ended up being here for an extended amount of time.

"I am so sorry about your wait," Bindy said. Her voice had once again pulled Law from his thoughts. He turned just as she sat down their plates down on the table. He stared down into the mess that was on their plates. There was a brownish grey liquid pooled around a hunk of something that resembled meat and smaller chucks of what looked to be potatoes. "Here are your meals. I hope you like them."

"Don't worry about it. We completely understand." Nami smiled.

Law looked over to the navigator. Despite the smile on her face, he could tell she was thinking the same thing he was: What the heck was this slop in front of them?

"Is there anything else I can get for you two?" Bindy asked.

"No, we're good for now," Nami said.

"All right then. Let me know if you need anything else," Bindy said before walking away from them with a wave.

"I hope this is eatable," Nami said, eyeing her goopy meal suspiciously.

Law nodded in agreement. Both hesitated as they picked up their two pronged forks and dug into the meat like substance. The substance easily pulled apart so at least it was cooked all the way through. He brought the piece up to his face, carefully eyeing it for any other foreign objects before slowly placing it into his mouth. The substance was soft and juicy with a bitter taste to it while the strange colored juice had a sweet taste to it. He stuck his fork into the potato looking thing and found it was a type of meat as well. It was slightly gamey and had a peppery taste to it.

"Well? How is it?" Nami asked, still hesitating to take her own bite.

"It's…not bad," Law said after swallowing.

"Okay," Nami said. She still hesitated but brought the food into her mouth. "You're correct. It's not bad at all. It's not really what I'm use to but at least it's eatable."

Law nodded in agreement. They weren't going to starve here at the very least. The two fell back into silence as they continued to eat their meals. They both ate rather slowly. Both knew they needed information so they took their time in eating and listened to what other people were talking about as they came and when from the restaurant and walked by them. Unfortunately, they didn't over hear anything that was useful to them at all. So he started cooking up a plan that would be believable for the people around here to accept. And amnesia was his answer.

"Are you sure there isn't anything else I can get for you?" Bindy asked, walking back over to them. "You've been here for quite while. I don't mind. It is rather hot today, but…"

"You can tell us where we are," Law said bluntly.

"Trafalgar!" Nami hissed. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I know it might sound like a strange thing to say, but we were in a battle and can't remember much of anything," Law added calmly, ignoring the harsh look Nami was giving him. He knew what he was doing after all. Amnesia was the perfect cover story to why they didn't know anything about the world they were in. "So if we really seem a bit lost or out of our minds then that's why."

"That's horrible," Bindy said with a sympathetic look.

"We talked to some guards before outside of some large mansion or something and they said we were in some place called Adalinda, Hydra Sector of the Serpent Dome," Law said. "Where is that exactly?"

"In the Time Stream," Bindy said. She pulled out one of the empty chairs at their table and sat down.

"We don't mean to interrupt your work," Nami said. "But we really could use some information on this place. It might help us regain our memories."

"Don't worry about it. I was about to go on break anyway so I'm happy to help." Bindy smiled at Nami. "The rush hour is now over anyway. So we won't have many people to disturb us. Do you two at least know your names?"

"Yes," Law said. "I'm Trafalgar Law."

"I'm Nami," Nami said.

"We can remember our names and names of our friends were fighting with and a lot about our pasts, but it just some recent events that are a big blank," Law said. "Among a few other things that we're not use to being around."

"I see," Bindy said. "That must be a real pain. So you have no idea where you are or where your friends are?"

"We don't," Nami said.

"Well, despite the circumstances that brought you here, it's nice to meet you both. Now, back to what I was saying, you're in the Time Stream. This dome we're on is home to the serpent people. From your looks and clothing my guess is you're from another Time Dome. You must have arrived here some time after the Time Spheres stopped working," Bindy said, pushed her chair back on two legs.

"Time Spheres?" Nami asked. "What are those? They sound kind of familiar but I'm not really sure."

"It's how we travel from Time Dome to Time Dome. I was just a kid when they stopped working about five hundred years ago." Bindy stared up at the ceiling so she didn't see the concerned glances passing between Nami and Law.

Nami mouthed to Law, "Five hundred years?"

Law was concerned a bit too. This girl seemed to be over four hundred years old or so but looked like she was somewhere between his and Nami's age. He figured time must pass differently here.

"Although," Bindy continued, "I don't believe I've ever heard of people or seen people who look like you two living in the Time Stream. But then there are a lot of Time Domes that I haven't been to so it's really not all that impossible. What are you exactly? If you don't mind me asking."

Law shrugged slightly when Nami gave him a questioning look. He didn't think it would matter if they answered that question or not. But they were still going to have to be careful on what they did reveal. His eyes slid over to the monkey sitting in the chair beside him. It hasn't shown any signs of life so he figured what they were saying was okay and didn't break any of the rules they were placed under.

"We're humans," Nami said carefully.

"Humans, huh? Definitely never heard of you," Bindy said.

"Like you said, we're not from around here," Nami said, trying to keep herself as calm as possible. "So, what happened to cause the, um, Time Sphere's to stop working so suddenly?"

"No one really knows for sure. The only thing we do know is that some guy is trying to take over the Time Stream." Bindy looked around the room to see if anyone needed anything. "But no one knows what exactly he's going to do with it if he does take over."

"What guy?" Nami asked.

"Pendulum," Bindy said, once again not catching the concerned glances passing between Nami and Law.

The pirates carefully glanced over at the silent spider monkey. Their panicking hearts skipping a beat inside both of their chests. What would Pendulum think of all of this? Surely he would already know that others in this strange place would know about him. And still, they weren't breaking any rules.

"Pendulum has actually been in constant battle for centuries with the Time Empress Futura. People assume one of their battles must have knocked out the Time Spheres. It's kind of strange that they're not working yet. You'd think, that after five hundred years, Empress Futura would have gotten them fixed by now. We've all been stuck in our own Time Domes since that time. Some people had to relocate here when the spheres stopped working. Some are fine with living in different Time Domes. But others are furious and really want to go home and see their families again. I can understand that. But there's not much anyone can do about it. I really hope this mess gets cleared up soon. I'd like to take a vacation to Desert Dome. They have such a nice and relaxing atmosphere there. I've wanted to go there since I was a kid, but it looks like I'm going to have to keep on waiting. Which is a real shame."

"Why's that?" Nami asked.

"I wanted to go so I could get as relaxed as possible. It would help me in studying if I'm ever going to pass my entrance exams to get into the brainery," Bindy said.

"I thought you worked here," Nami said.

"I do, but I'm really supposed to be studying for the entrance exams." Bindy sighed. "This is actually my family's establishment. We've owned it for years and never had a problem with anything. Then all of a sudden, people started quitting left and right within just a couple weeks of starting. I really don't have much choice but to help out. If I don't, then my family would lose this place forever. And it's my family's only source of monetary. So we'd not only lose this place but our home as well. Plus, my papa would be so broken, physically and mentally, if he ever had to close this place down. And to put an even bigger strain on things, our biggest client is hosting another ball in a few weeks that we're suppose to cater to."

"A ball?" Nami asked.

"I'm sure you noticed that big mansion just north of the city. You mentioned a mansion before. That's where this client lives. Their daughter is having her official coming out into society party. They always hire us to cater their balls. It's such a strain on Papa, especially since we can't keep many on our staff," Bindy said, sighing again. "If we don't get more help soon we'll have to tell our client that we can't cater this time. They're going to be so furious. They're use to getting what they want. They could completely shut us down if they want to. I mean, if we don't close down before then. It's such a mess."

"We noticed all the security around that place and a couple of the guards mentioned a kidnapping," Nami said. "What was that about?"

"Yeah, no one knows who keeps trying to take her. Probably just some low life punks who want to ransom their daughter off." Bindy dropped her chair back onto its four legs. "They've got some serious security there now. It's impossible to take any type of machinery within a hundred yards of the place without it malfunctioning."

Law and Nami glanced back over at their monkey. They now had an answer to what happened to the machine before.

"I'm sorry," Bindy said. "Here I am complaining about my family's problems when you two are worse off than we are."

"Don't worry about it," Nami said. "Sometimes we all need to just vent and get things off our chests."

"That's so true." Bindy nodded.

"And we might be able to help you out," Nami said.

"What?" Law and Bindy asked.

Law gave Nami a puzzling look. He crossed his arms when all she did was wave her hand at him.

"I mean, you're looking for help and we can't really do anything until we get our memories back," Nami said. "We can work for you."

"That would be so wonderful!" Bindy said. "But I can't just ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, we're offering," Nam said. "We might be here for a while. So we could really use the monetary."

"That makes sense," Bindy said. "Well, I'll have to bring this up to my papa, but I think he'll say yes since we're in desperate need of help."

"Great!" Nami grinned. "Why don't you go ask him now?"

"I will." Bindy stood up and walked away.

"What are you thinking, Nami?" Law asked with a displeased frown.

"Don't give me that attitude," Nami said. "You know we have to get into that mansion."

"We could just fight our way in," Law said. "Did you forget my warping ability? We don't have to sneak in like rats."

"True, but we have no idea where exactly the shard is," Nami said.

Law twitched. She was correct. They didn't know where the shard was exactly. They only knew that it was inside of the mansion. And they couldn't take their monkey friend in with them. They would be in some serious trouble if they went into the place and couldn't immediately find it. They still had no idea what these people were capable of doing yet. The serpents could be stronger than they were. Or they could have their own type of Devil Fruit powers here. They were going to have to sneak into this place under a disguise. The catering job offered them just that.

A few minutes later, Bindy walked back over to them. Her happy face told them they got the job. She said, "You got it! You can start tomorrow!"

"That's great!" Nami said.

"Do you need a place to stay tonight?" Bindy asked. "It's not much but we do have a couple small rooms that we could offer you."

"No, thank you," Law said before Nami could accept. "We've already have a place to stay."

"Oh, okay then. But if you ever need a place to stay just let me know," Bindy said. "Well, I should get back to work. If you have any more questions I'd be happy to help you folks out."

"Thanks a lot, Bindy," Nami said. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"See you later." Bindy waved as she walked off. "We opened up at sith. So make sure you're here in plenty of time."

"Sure thing." Nami waved to their new friend before turning to Law. "What the heck is a sith?! And what were you thinking, Tra? We need a place to stay!"

"We're staying out in the forest," Law said.

"What?! I don't want to sleep on the hard ground!" Nami said.

"We need to keep people around us to a minimum," Law said. He nodded to their silent companion. "We have to be careful with that thing following us around. If we live in a building here then there's a high possibility that we will be over heard. You heard what Bindy said. People around here know about Pendulum. If they figure out that we're basically working for him, where do you think that will land us?"

"I never thought of that," Nami said.

"We can go shopping for supplies to set us up a camp out in the woods," Law said. "We'll move closer to the mansion so we don't have such a long walk to the city. We'll also pick out a place that will be surrounded by a bunch of bushes and trees. That way we should be able to hear if someone sneaks up on us. And since the forest is so dense, our fires shouldn't be easily seen."

"That's just great," Nami said.

"What's the problem? You're a pirate. You should be use to living outdoors," Law said.

"I know," Nami said. "I just didn't want to stay outside in this heat."

"You'll get use to it." Law stood up. Grabbing his sword, he shoved his free hand into his pocket and walked away. "Come on. We have shopping to do and have to get our camp set up before it gets dark."

"Yeah, I'm coming," Nami said. She placed some money down on the table and quickly followed after the surgeon.

With their monkey babysitter tagging along, they began to walk through the city to search for a store that would have camping equipment they needed and swiping as much money as they could to pay for their supplies. They went into at least fifteen stores before finally finding a store that had all they needed. After paying for their purchases, they headed back to the forest. When they reached the forest again, Law scanned for the perfect place to set up their camp. After fifteen minutes of searching, Law found a good place for them. There were three rather large trees close together with leaves like a weeping willow draping down like a curtain and a small creek they could use for water and washing up. No one would be able to sneak up on them from that direction at all.

"I guess this place will do," Nami said, dropping her heavy load on the ground. She glanced up at the tree limbs that were at least six feet high. "But it's going to be a serious pain climbing these trees to hang the ropes on. They're about six feet high from my head. There's no way the tarps we bought for walls around to be long enough."

"You're forgetting about my Devil Fruit power," Law said. He picked up a coil of rope and held out his free hand. "Room. Shambles." The rope disappeared from his hand and found itself inside of the tree's trunk. "Now all we have to do is sew the tarps together and place them on the rope. When that's done I'll just warp the other end into the tree trunks as well."

"Great. I did forget about that ability of yours," Nami said. Sitting down on the ground, she got busy with sewing the tarps so they could get their makeshift walls up.

Law went ahead and warped some more ropes into the trees like he did with the first one. Then, he walked away from their camp to gather up some wood for their fire. He found enough to get them through the night, but they were going to need more. Looking around, he found a smaller tree that looked to be on the verge of dying. Reactivating his Room, he divided the dying tree up then warped back to their campsite.

"There," Nami said when he returned. "The tarps are ready."

Law nodded. They both threaded the free ends of their ropes through the tarps before he warped the ends into the trees. When they were all set up, they both had makeshift walls to pull around them to give them privacy when they needed or wanted it. They also angled a couple tarps over their fire with just enough opening for the smoke to go through but very little rain would be able to get in. The trees would help shield them from rain, but this was added for extra security. They then rolled out their sleeping pads and placed their blankets and pillows on them.

"Well, it's not exactly the Sunny, but it should do for a short term living place," Nami said, running her eyes over their campsite. "And I do hope this is just a _short term_ living place. Oh, shoot. We should have asked Bindy when the event was."

"You can ask tomorrow," Law said. He laid down on his pad with his hands behind his head, he once again thought about Neo. He didn't really feel like she was all that upset anymore. So she must have been able to get and keep herself calm. But how long would that be? Should he attempt to Project himself to her now?

"Hey, are you going to be able to handle working at Bindy's restaurant?" Nami asked.

Law glanced over at her with an annoyed frown.

"Don't give that look," Nami said. "You're a rather serious guy. Waiting on people isn't exactly easy. Some of them are going to be extremely rude."

"So? I know how to handle people," Law said, turning his eyes away from her

"Tra, we can't be pirates here," Nami said. "We have to be just normal, everyday people. You can't become your sadistic self here."

"I'll do what I must to get back to Neo," Law said. "And I'll hear no more on the subject."

"You're hopeless," Nami said with a sigh. "Sometimes you're too much like Luffy."

"I'm nothing like Straw Hat," Law said. "He's probably already gotten himself into a lot of trouble by now."

"Well, you have a point there," Nami said. Leaning back on her hands, she looked up at their roof. "I wonder who he got paired up with if anyone. I hope he did get paired with someone who's levelheaded enough to handle him. And I hope he doesn't get himself into many fights. Hopefully he won't get into any fights. But I'm not holding my breath on that. You're probably right. He's probably already in trouble as it is." She sighed. "Please, Luffy, for once in your life take this seriously, and don't get into any fights."

Law exhaled. His eyes wondered to their monkey. It was sitting several feet away from them looking as lifeless as ever. He really wished that Pendulum had made this thing to where they could communicate with the rest of their crews. While he knew they were all capable of handling themselves, he still wanted to know where they were and how they were doing. He had to wonder if Neo had one of these things with her. He couldn't see any reason for that, but he didn't know. This monkey was here to basically babysit them. Since Neo wasn't looking for any shard there really didn't seem to be a point to have one with her. Then, what did he know? He only knew very little. He just had to be patient for more answers and his reunion with his love. He was glad to be a patient man, but with Neo so far away from him he had no idea how long his patients was going to hold out. And he had to admit that Nami was correct. He really didn't need to be his typical sadistic pirate captain self. So far it didn't look like pirates existed in this place. But for Neo he was going to do his best to behave as much as he could, at least to a point. Once he got his hands on that shard, there was nothing going to hold him back from reuniting with Neo. If it became necessary, he would kill as many people as he had to so he could reunite with her.

…

After a restless night sleep and the two hour early arrival at their new workplace since they didn't know what a sith was, the last thing that Law wanted to do was deal with a lot of bratty people who swore up and down that he got their order wrong when _they_ were the ones who wrote their order down in the first place. Once they started their first day of working at Baer Restaurant, Bindy had informed them that her father decided to put up devices on the tables where the customer could write down their order then clip it to the device where they, the waiters and waitresses, would come by and grab them to put the orders in. He and Nami felt a huge relief lifting off their chests when they heard that. There was no possible way they could learn the language here quickly enough to write it down. But the man had chose to do this also because three more of his staff had decided to quit some time after they had left the restaurant yesterday. That meant there was only three of them waiting on tables while three cooked in the kitchen. Luckily he and Nami got put on table waiting because of their _amnesia_. Bindy's dad didn't want anyone in the kitchen who didn't know what they were doing. While he didn't want to be out here dealing with a lot of crybaby people, he didn't want to be in the kitchen either. It reminded him far too much of Neo. He was already getting lost in thought with her constantly. Him being around sharp objects and flames wasn't a good idea at all right now.

"I'm telling you I didn't order this at all," the pink woman serpent said.

"This place use to be such high quality service," her friend said, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

"I apologize," Law said through gritted teeth and a forced smile. "There has been some bad luck keeping staff on hand here lately. We're doing the best we can with the number of people we have. And my friend and I are new at this."

"Well, that's not _our_ problem, now is it?" the first woman said with a sneer.

Law ground his teeth together. So badly he wanted to tell her it _was_ going to be her problem if she kept annoying him like she was. But he managed to swallow the words. It was very hard, but he did it. He sucked in a breath. The chatter of the people in the restaurant was adding to the headache this woman was causing.

She waved a piece of paper at him. "Now, are we going to get our proper food or should we just leave?"

Law bit down on his tongue. He wanted so badly to just tell them to leave. Heck, he wanted to warp their annoying, scaly butts right out of this place himself. But he knew he couldn't do that. It wasn't really his place to do so. So he swallowed his pirate instincts, took the paper from the lady, and headed back to the kitchen. He slammed the order down on the counter, causing people to jump, and stalked to the back storage room, slamming the door behind him, where he could calm himself and gather his calm façade he had been able to use for the two hours of working here.

"Having a bad day?" Nami asked upon entering the storage room.

With in the small room, the orange haired woman had to stand fairly close to him. He was easily able to smell all of the cooking spices on her clothes. He wondered if he smelled like that as well. He probably did. While they didn't cook it seemed that just stepping into the kitchen allowed the spices to gather upon them. He didn't even notice that he didn't smell all these spices while he was passing through the kitchen. But he wasn't exactly in a calm state of mind.

"I was able to speak to Bindy a little bit," Nami said. "And you're not really going to like what I have to tell you about the party."

Law sighed heavily and ran his hands over his face. "Just tell me and get it over with."

"The party is in a month," Nami said quickly.

Law released a string of curses. There was no way he was going to survive a month of snappy, rude customers.

"Just keep reminding yourself that you're doing this for Neo," Nami said, heading back out into the kitchen.

The ruckus of the kitchen interrupted his quiet sanctuary when the woman left him. The banging of dishes, the whooshing of the heat coming from the stove, the shouts of orders being put in, bombarded him for a few seconds before the door was closed, plunging him into welcomed silence. He stayed in the room for a few minutes longer, enjoying the solitude while he had it. Mentally, he started to tell himself that he was doing this for Neo over and over again and again. He could and would do this for her. He just needed to mentally prepare himself for it.

An unexpected chuckle passed over his lips. He could just imagine the fun time Neo would be having with him right now. She would absolute love seeing him waiting on people like this. And what about his crew? They would be laughing so hard if they saw him in a job like this that they would probably soil their boiler suits. He was going to have to threaten Nami and Neo to never mention a word about this to anyone. With another heavy sigh, he forced himself to leaving this peaceful sanctuary for the insanity that awaited him. The words, _"I'm doing this for you, Neo"_ , repeating over and over in his head.

…

 **Apple Bloom: Glad you're enjoying this so much.**


	9. Into the Domes P2

Into the Domes

Part Two

"This is just g-g-great!" Usopp screamed as Pendulum's image faded away from them. "W-w-what do we d-do now?! I'm going to d-d-die out here! He said he g-gave us what we need to survive! That liar! Do we look prepared to survive out here in the cold?!"

"Well, it's possible that he did give us what we need," Brook said. "The snow could have just buried it."

"That's just great," Usopp said, looking around the white curtain blowing around them. "We're never going to find it in this blizzard. We'll die before we do."

"I wonder when it will be morning. There might be stores around here where we can get the proper attire for this snowy atmosphere," Brook said as he looked around their dark surroundings. He looked for signs of the snowstorm letting up, but it didn't look like it was going to do that any time soon. In fact, the wind started blowing harder and more snow fell from above causing icicles to start forming on his brittle bones. "I feel like my bones are going to snap in this weather."

"So where is the shard?" Bepo asked. "If it's close we could just get it and get out of here right now."

"T-t-that's a good idea," Usopp said. He brought his face closer to the monkey, hoping that the glow from it would be warm. "All right you, s-s-show us where da shard ting is ow or else."

The monkey's lit up again. It formed a map that showed five dots on it. Four of the dots were clustered together while the last dot was some distance from the rest.

"T-t-there is no heat-t-t from this t-t-hing," Usopp said, his body violently shivering. "How c-c-can it work in this weather?"

"So how do we read this thing?" Brook asked.

"Well, considering there's a group of four dots here and just one over here," Usopp said, pointing to the dots when he spoke about them. "I'm sure we're the cluster of dots while this single one is the shard."

"I think you're correct," Bepo said. "There's nothing else but unreadable lines on this map."

"It looks like it's some distance from us," Brook said.

"Yeah. Great," Usopp said before releasing a string of sneezes. "I'm really going to die out here."

"You're not going to die. All we have to do is dig a snow cave. It'll still be cold, but it'll be a lot better than it is out here," Bepo said. He turned his eyes away from his two companions and looked around. He tried to pick out a good location for their snow cave, but since he really couldn't see but a few feet in front of him, he had no choice but to just dig one right where they were and hope an avalanche didn't bury them. He dropped to his knees and started digging into the snow. "I'll try to dig as fast as I can."

"Great," Usopp said. "Thanks a lot."

"Here, Usopp," Brook said, placing his jacket on the sniper's shoulders. "You need this more than I do. It's not much, but it should help some."

"Thanks, Brook," Usopp said, tightening the coat around him.

"If you need any help at all, Bepo, just let me know," Brook said.

"Thanks," Bepo said, pushing snow away. "But I'll be done soon." Several minutes later, Bepo had finally got the cave dug out enough. He stuck his head back out of the hole. "Come on in. You'll be able to get out of the wind now."

"Wonderful," Usopp said before practically diving into the opening with Bepo.

Brook slowly followed in after him with the monkey following. The monkey's eyes then lit up again. Its glow was a soft green that tinted the white snow and gave the pirates just enough light to see each other. Bepo continued to work on the snow cave. He patted and smoothed out the snow until there was only a tiny hole for a door that would allow them to get out once the storm was over. He then moved over to the other two pirates and sat down with them. He said, "That should be good enough."

"You have done well, my friend," Brook said. "Thank you."

"It's still pretty cold in here, but at least we're out of the wind now," Usopp said before releasing another round of sneezes. "That stupid idiot! Just wait until Luffy get's his hands on him! He's going to regret doing this to me! Gave us all we needed! What jerk!"

"You can lean against me and use my fur for warmth," Bepo said, shifting closer to Usopp. "I know it's not much, but it should help some."

"Thanks a lot, Bepo," Usopp said, leaning against the bear's side. "I'm lucky that you're here with me."

"Don't mention it," Bepo said. "We have to rely on each other to survive this."

"I hope that thing doesn't melt the snow," Brook said as he stared at the monkey's glowing eyes. "It doesn't feel like it's giving off any kind of heat right now, but still. By the way, did anyone notice the strange markings on the map?"

"Yeah. What about them?" Usopp asked.

"I did as well. But I didn't know what they were," Bepo said.

"I was just thinking," Brook said. "We might be on an island that doesn't speak our language. Those markings kind of looked like words to me."

"Well, that's just great," Usopp said. He glared at the monkey. "So your owner said we are equipped with what we need to survive. Does that mean you can speak the language here?"

The monkey didn't answer.

"You stupid monkey! What's the point of having you here if you're not going to answer any of our questions?!" Usopp snapped.

"No point in getting upset about it, Usopp," Brook replied calmly. "We just have to wait until the storm passes and for morning to break. Then we can see what kind of journey we really have ahead of us. Hey, for all we know the shard is just laying there waiting for us to come pick it up. Then, whoosh, we'll be back with our friends in no time at all."

"Speaking of our friends…" Usopp's voice trailed off as he looked up at Bepo. "Do you think Neo will be all right when she wakes up? I know this isn't the first time she's been taken away from you all. And with what happened on Luminous…"

Bepo ducked his head with a heavy sigh.

"Stay strong, my friend," Brook said kindly. "I truly believe that she will be just fine. She knows that none of us will rest until we are all united with her again. I bet she's already up and waiting for our return. We all will be back with all of our friends soon. You'll see."

"Brook is absolutely correct! I saw what she is capable of when we were fighting Doflamingo back in Dressrosa! She's amazingly strong!" Usopp said. "And she's even stronger now! And don't forget she has that Projection thing between her and Tra! They can easily speak with each other! So she'll be fine!"

"Thank you for the support," Bepo said. "I know Neo's a lot stronger than she was in the past. And she and the captain do have their Projection technique, but they can't use it unless they're in a safe place."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that part," Usopp said. "But they're both smart. They'll use it when they know they're safe."

"Yeah." Bepo nodded. "I just hope that Neo's really in a safe place and that the captain is the first one to return to her."

"From the scene that we saw of her and from the way Pendulum was speaking about seven shard pieces, I bet Neo's on her own," Brook said. "It wouldn't make much since for her to have someone with her since she's basically his hostage."

"We're all his hostages," Usopp said. "He's just using Neo for leverage. He clearly knew that she was the one we all are the most protective over."

"And he'll die for that," Bepo said. "The captain won't stand for this at all."

"Yeah." Usopp nodded. "I think we all know exactly where this is going to end up."

Brook nodded in agreement. No matter what happened to them, they all knew they were going to end up in a battle with this Pendulum guy one way or another. After that the three pirates went quiet just listening to the howling winds from their small opening. There was nothing else they could say now. So they passed their time in silence or constructing small snowmen out of the snow around them. Occasionally, Brook would detach his soul from his body to see if the snowstorm had passed or if it was morning yet. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Brook finally announced that the snowstorm was over. He pulled his soul head back into the snow cave and said, "Hey, it finally stopped snowing. And the sun is starting to shine, despite not being able to see it. We can leave this cave now."

"Great," Usopp said. "I'm starting to get really stiff sitting here. But I am a lot warmer. Thanks a lot, Bepo."

"Any time." Bepo smiled. He moved over to the entrance of their snow cave and started to dig them out of it. Within a few minutes, the hole was big enough for them to climb out.

"Wait a second," Usopp said, his boots crunching the snow as he climbed out of the cave. Once standing on the snow, he looked up at the mountains and the sky that surrounded them. "You really can't see the sun. But how can the sun be shining when there is no sun?"

"Maybe the sun is still below the mountains," Bepo suggested.

"I suppose that could be possible. We are surrounded by a lot of mountains," Usopp said, inspecting the mountains that surrounded them in all directions. "Dang! We're lucky were didn't have multiple avalanches fall down on us! What is this place?! The Island of Mountains?!"

"Hey, the monkey is showing the map again," Brook said, looking down at the map.

"Great," Usopp grumbled.

"It looks like the shard is this way," Bepo said while pointing behind him towards a passage way through the mountains.

"This is going to be such a long walk," Usopp said, his shoulders drooping low.

"Let us be off then," Brook said as the three headed off.

…

"This is ridiculous!" Usopp screamed when his leg sunk for the fifteenth in the snow. The icy chill of the snow only made his throbbing leg hurt more. "It's amazing that we haven't feel inside of a hole or something!"

"Maybe we should take a small break," Brook said. He sat down on the snow with a tired sigh. "We've been walking for almost two hours now."

"They must use sleds or something to get around on all of this snow," Bepo said.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Usopp grumbled while he tugged on his leg. After about six tugs, he managed to get himself free. But in doing so he lost his balance and fell backwards into the snow. "I can't take much more of this! I'm tired! I'm cold! I can't feel my nose, fingers, and toes! Pretty much my entire body is frozen! And I'm hungry! Moron! You said you gave us all we needed to survive! Well, along with no warm clothes or proper gear to walk over snow, you didn't give us any food!" He sat up and snatched up the monkey by its neck, shaking it as he yelled. "Are you listening to me, you jerk?! I know you are! You said so yourself! Give us the proper equipment to survive this you moron!"

"I don't think getting angry at that thing is going to help the situation," Brook said.

"I don't care!" Usopp said. He tossed the monkey away from him, which landed perfectly on the snow, before falling backwards. "I just want something to eat!"

"We are burning a lot of calories walking through all of this snow," Bepo said. "We need fuel if we're going to be able to keep going." His eyes dropped down to the map the monkey pulled out again. "But on the upside, it looks like we're pretty close to the shard now."

"We might as well keep walking," Brook said. "Who knows? Maybe the shard is at a nice warm restaurant that full of yummy foods and hot drinks."

"Fine," Usopp said reluctantly. He forced himself to sit back up. "But it better be at a restaurant with hot food, hot drinks, and a blazing hot fire."

The three pushed themselves upon their feet. Trudging along in the snow, they listened to the snow crunching under their books and their stomachs rumbling in protest of not having anything inside of them. Brook then said, "How about a song? It will lighten the mood and make time go by faster."

"Fine," Usopp said.

"I wouldn't mind a song," Bepo said.

"Then we shall sing Bink's Brew," Brook said. He cleared his throat and started singing. "Yo hohoho, yo hohoho, yo hohoho, Yo hohoho, yo hohoho, yo hohoho. Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Bink's Brew. Sea wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide. O'er across the oceans tide, rays of sunshine far and wide. Birds they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by. Bid farewell to weaver's town, say so long to port renowned. Sing a song, it won't be long before we're casting off."

Unable to hold the cheerful song at bay, Bepo and Usopp soon found themselves singing along with the musician. Their voices drowned out their rumbling stomach and the crunching snow beneath their boots as their voices lifted higher into the frosty air. And before they knew it a large ice mountain halted them from continuing their song and their journey. The three stared up at the massive mountain. Blinking a few times, they dropped their eyes down to the map the monkey was displaying for them again. They looked back up at the mountain then back down at the map and then back up at the mountain. Brook and Usopp both twitched before their voices shouted out over the mountains. "You have got to be kidding me! The shard is in the mountain of solid ice?!"

Bepo tilted his head as he looked at the ice mountain. "Apparently so. We're practically standing right on top of the single dot." He looked back down at the map to make sure he saw the dots correctly. "Yup. That's what it says."

Usopp grabbed the monkey by its neck and shook it violently again. "Hey! Pendulum! You stupid moron! You knew that shard was here didn't you?! You said you gave us all the necessary equipment that we needed to get it for you! What a load of crap that was! How do you expect us to drill into an entire mountain made of ice to get that stupid shard?! Do you expect us to dig it out with our hands?! We need tools to get that stupid shard! Drills! Hammers! A blowtorch! Dynamite! A rock! A plastic spoon! Anything is better than nothing! Answer me! You're so going to pay for this!"

"Hey, what's that over there?" Brook asked.

"What's what?" Bepo looked at the skeleton. Ignoring to continuing rant of the sniper, they walked over to whatever it was Brook spotted. Their eyes widened at what they had found. "What is this place?"  
"I don't know," Brook said, turning back to Usopp. "Hey, Usopp, you better come check this out. You won't believe what we found."

"What is it?" Usopp, forgetting his anger, dropped the monkey and ran over to his friends. He peaked inside of the hole at the base of the mountain they were standing at and gasped. Due to their shock of discovering the shard was inside of an ice mountain, they didn't see than someone was carving part of the mountain out to form some kind of dwelling for someone. "Wow!"

"It looks like someone is already working on carving this mountain out. I wonder what for," Brook said as he walked around a large area that kind of reminded him of a hotel lobby. On each side of the room were unfinished large staircases that led up to a balcony on the second floor with several other rooms that were on the verge of being cut out.

"Are there literally people living here that are carving out a mountain to look like a building? This place kind of looks like a hotel," Usopp said as he inspected his surroundings. "And who would want to live in an ice hotel anyway?"

"Animals who live in cold climates," Bepo said.

"I suppose so," Usopp said. "But even they need to stay warm at times. If you lit a fire in this place it would melt. Maybe this is just a hobby or something. Maybe like a sandcastle contest but with ice castles the size of mountains."

"I suppose that could be a possibility," Bepo said.

"In any case, we found the right place. The map shows we're practically sitting on top of the lone shard now," Brook said, leaning over to inspect the map again.

"So that means the shard is definitely someone where inside of this ice," Bepo said.

"Yeah, but knowing where it is does us absolutely no good since we don't have any tools to chip away at this ice," Usopp said.

"Well, maybe there's-" Brook started before he was cut off by an unexpected voice.

"Oh, Papa, look!"

The three pirates whipped around when someone shouted. Their hearts pounded wildly against their chests while their bodies froze upon seeing a small group of bunnies standing on their hind legs, holding several different tools, standing in the opening of the ice mountain. Their eyes were filled with as much shock as the pirates were. But with all the tools they were carrying the pirates felt threatened. They probably shouldn't have been here. They could be trespassing for all they knew. Their bodies tensed up in preparation to run if it was needed.

"Isn't this wonderful?!" the girl bunny said while clapping her paws together.

"Wait…what?" Usopp said.

"They're not here to kill us?" Brook asked.

"Apparently not," Bepo said.

"Oh, thank the sparkling ice crystals above. I was worried that the foundation was going to keep on ignoring our request for more workers," the tallest male bunny said with a smile. "But, I have to ask, why are you three out here without the necessary winter gear? It's extremely dangerous to wonder around this area without thick parkas. I'm surprised you're all alive. Well, I guess the bear is not much of a surprise, nor is the skeleton…what's that about?"

"Well, there's a really good explanation for that, my good sir," Brook started. "You see, we were on the beach, talking with some friends of ours when suddenly this strange bl-"

"Shut up!" Usopp whacked Brook on the head. He then smiled awkwardly at their bunny guests. "Please excuse us. We have to have a little meeting." He then grabbed the skeleton and Bepo and dragged them away from the bunnies as far as he possibly could. "Have you lost your mind, Brook?! We can't tell them anything about us or else that Pendulum guy might hurt Neo!"

"Oh, right." Brook nodded, looking down at the monkey. "I forgot about that. I'm so use to answering with the truth."

"So what do we do then?" Bepo asked.

"We just play along with them. That one bunny said they were waiting for someone to arrive. We'll just pretend to be those guys and help out here. That way we can get the shard easily since we won't be the only ones working here. They've already started carving this place out. It should be easy enough for us to figure out what we're suppose to do without asking many questions," Usopp explained. "Plus, they have the tools we need to work with. Who knows what would have happened if these peo-uh-bunnies hasn't shown up just now. And I'm still freezing. They might have a warm coat for me to wear. We have a golden opportunity here."

"That makes a lot of sense," Brook said.

"Yeah," Bepo said. "Sounds like we have a good plan then."

"Let's just hope they don't ask a lot of questions about us. If they do, just leave it to me to come up with our cover story." Usopp glanced back over at the bunnies. They were waiting confusingly, yet patiently, by the opening of the ice mountain. With an awkward smile, he walked back over to the bunnies. "Sorry about that. Our meeting is over now. And, yes, we are those who you have been asking for. But we weren't exactly informed very well on the requirements for this job. So that's why we're not really prepared for it. But we all are very hard workers and we learn very quickly. So just tell us what we need to do. And, if you would be so kind, we're going to need a place to stay as well."

"I see. Well, that makes a lot of sense. The foundation hardly ever gets things right. But we can easily show you what you're supposed to do. Once you get the hang of it, you'll find it's not that hard at all. And we can easily find you a place to stay while you're here." The tall male bunny smiled. Upon moving closer to the pirates to shake their hands in a welcoming gesture, the pirates noticed the bunny had dark grey fur with black markings under his dark blue parka. "I'm just glad we finally have help. We were never going to get this place done on our own. My name is Gnash. Bijou, do you have the spare parkas?"

"Yes, Papa. I'll get them immediately." Bijou, the only female, was solid white wearing a silver parka, dashed back out of the opening. She came back five seconds later with three very thick parkas in her paws. Holding them out to the pirates, she introduced herself. "I'm Bijou."

"Thank you. It's so warm!" Usopp exclaimed as he snuggled into the coat that wrapped up his cold body. "Thank you so much! I'm Usopp. And these are my friends, Brook and Bepo."

"Welcome," Gnash said as he pointed to the other three bunnies with them. "You've already met my daughter, Bijou. So these are my sons, Kobet and Tippy. And their friend Jigsaw."

"Hi," the boy bunnies greeted a bit dully. The pirates carefully studied the bunnies' color and memorized their names. Kobet had the same color as his dad while Tippy was a lighter grey with darker fur at the points of his paws and ears. Jigsaw was a chestnut brown bunny with a white belly.

"Let's get started. We have a lot of work to do," Kobet said as he and the other boys handed out the tools.

"What exactly are we doing here anyway?" Brook asked.

"We're carving out the ice of course." Jigsaw gave Brook a puzzled look. "Are you sure you're from the foundation? I know they can mess things up in several ways, but you three really seem lost here."

"Of course we're from there. Like my friend said, we just weren't informed well on what this job entailed. So of course we're kind of out of the loop in what we're doing here." Brook laughed. He turned away from the bunny and growled to himself. "This sounds more like a job for Franky! I'm a musician not an ice carver!"

"Don't worry about it. We can show you what we're doing as we go along. You'll pick it up really quickly. We should get started now," Gnash said. "We have less than two hours now to get our workload done today."

"Less than two hours?" Bepo asked. "What do you mean by that, if I may ask?"

"Let me guess," Tippy said as he spun a tool in his paw. "You three are originally from the warm sector, correct?"

"Warm sector?" Bepo questioned.

"Of course we are!" Usopp jumped in front of Bepo. He glared back over his shoulder at the bear and quietly hissed, "Idiot! I told you to play along, did I?!"

"I'm sorry." Bepo bowed his head.

"Ah, bunny snaps!" Tippy growled. "The foundation really did messed up. And this time it was a huge mistake!"

"What do you mean by that?" Brook asked.

"The foundation does nothing but place ridiculous demands on its workers," Bijou explained, crossing her arms while leaning against an icy pillar. "They refuse to supple enough workers with enough skills to meet their ridiculous deadlines. They want this ice lodge done in three months. But, as you can probably guess already, it's an impossible task to be asked of such few workers. Then they have the nerve to complain when their rich clients are unhappy about their lodges not being finished on time."

"I can understand all of that. Carving out all of this ice does sound like a lot of hard work for just a few people do complete." Brook nodded. "But what did you mean by having less than two hours to work?"

"This place is constantly bombarded with severe winter storms. Even though we all are born with thick winter coats it's still impossible for use to work more than two hours a day," Tippy replied.

"Only two hours a day?!" Brook and Usopp shouted.

"What's wrong?" Bijou asked. "Do you have problem with that?"

"Not really. It's just we're use to working longer hours," Usopp said.

"Definitely screwed up," Tippy grumbled while he turned away from the group and headed up to the second level. "I'm going to go ahead and start working."

"We all should start as well," Gnash said. "Just join us when you're ready to start working. We have plenty of tools out in the sleds."

"This is just great," Usopp said once the bunnies were far enough away from them. "We're never going to get out of here. Why couldn't that guy send Franky here? He could just easily melt this ice in just seconds."

"Possibly, but we were sent to specific places on purpose," Brook said. "So wherever Franky is right now, he's worth more there than he is here."

"That's just your opinion," Usopp said.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," Bepo said. "Let's just get started. The quicker we learn what we are suppose to do the quicker we'll get back to Neo."

"I can't argue with that at all," Usopp said. "Fine. Let's get this started so we can get it over with."

The pirates scattered out then among the bunnies. Bepo went over to Bijou who was chipping away at what he guessed was the reception desk, Brook went over to Kobet who was carving out a room on the ground level, while Usopp went over to Gnash who was working on the unfinished stairs. They all quietly watched for a while until the bunnies handed over their tools to allow them to practice chipping away the ice while giving verbal instructions to the pirates when it was needed.

"Chip away a bit slower," one would say.

"You're doing fine," another one said.

"You're a natural at this," one said.

"Okay," Gnash said about two hours later. "That's all the work we can do for today. Let's pack it all up and head home before the temperature drops."

"We're already done?" Usopp asked, looking up from the railing he was carving out.

"Time flies when you're working this hard," Gnash said. "We'll be back tomorrow. You all did a great job considering this is your first time doing this."

"Thanks," Usopp said, gathering up the tools he had lying around. "It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. But I can easily see how this would take forever to get completed. The details are so fine on all of this stuff. Maybe you should organize a revolt against the foundation."

"Oh, we've thought about it," Gnash said while leading them outside. "Let's just get everything on the sleds and get back. We can talk more about that at home."

"Sleds?" Usopp looked at the sleds before them. They weren't like any sleds he had seen before. They were missing the boards that the musher stood on and there were two seats in the front that could easily fit two minks the size of Bepo. "They look more like sleighs to me."

"What are those?" Brook asked upon seeing creatures on a lead line attacked to three sleds. They had the body of a large cat but had long rabbit ears and sharp teeth. All of them were pure white to the point they blended in with the snow around them and wouldn't have been seen if they didn't move.

"They're cabbits," Bijou said. "They pull our sleds around for us. They're incredibly strong and fast so it takes only minutes to get places."

"Hey there. You're kind of cute," Usopp said, getting closer to them. He reached out to pet one. "Yes, you are cute. Neo would love-ah!" He jerked back his hand when one of them tried to bite him. "What the heck?!"

"They might be cute, but they're not the most friendly creatures in the domes," Jigsaw said.

"Remember that from now on," Kobet said.

"Yeah, I will," Usopp said, checking to make sure he had all of his fingers. "One, two, three, four, and fine." He wiggled his fingers. "That was close."

"Come on," Bijou said, once she had all of her tools inside of the sled. "We only have a few minutes to get home before the next storm hits."

"Are they going to be able to carry us all?" Bepo asked, inspecting that the sleds weren't all that big.

"It'll be fine," Gnash said. "The cabbits are use to pulling a lot more weight than all of us and our tools. They were made for harsh labor. In fact if all they do is sit around they become very restless and destructive. So the heavier the load the better it is for them."

"That's impressive," Brook said.

"Get on already," Tippy snapped, climbing into the front seat, he grabbed the reins. "We don't have all day. The storm's already coming."

"Okay, okay," Brook said, looking up at the darkening clouds. He climbed into the sled, noticing something odd about the clouds but couldn't quite figure out what it was. To him, it looked like the clouds were completely flat and curving upwards instead of rolling in on them. "There's something odd about those clouds. They don't look fluffy like they should."

"What are you talking about?" Tippy said, casting the skeleton a glance over his shoulder. "They're as normal as they always are. Don't you all have dome controlled weather back on your dome?"

"Dome controlled weather?" Usopp said. "But of course we do. Why wouldn't we have it?"

"You people are so beyond weird," Tippy said, facing forward. "The dome's weather is control here just like it is on your own dome. That's why we can have all these ice sculptures around and why we also have such harsh winters. That's the way it's always been here. The foundation is in control."

"That's just crazy," Usopp said.

"Well, the foundation does as it pleases," Gnash said, climbing into the sled.

"So the foundation is in a lot more control than I though it was," Usopp said, following Gnash into the sled.

"Mind if I ride with you?" Bepo asked the female bunny.

"Sure," Bijou said, smiling. "Get on."

"Okay." Bepo nodded and climbed into the free seat beside Bijou.

"I hope you don't mind going fast," Bijou said. "My team of cabbits is the fastest around."

"They are not!" Tippy scoffed. "Mine can be yours any time!"

"You have never beaten me! Not once!" Bijou shot back.

"Just great," Kobet said from his sled. "Do you two always have to argue about who's the fastest?"  
"Yes!" Bijou and Tippy said.

"You had to ask," Jigsaw said from beside Kobet. "Can we go now? Ma's going to want me home before this storm hits."

"Okay! Let's go!" Gnash said with a flick of his reins.

"Ah!" Usopp screamed as he, Brook, and Bepo were thrown back against the seats. The world around them disappeared into a blur of nothing but white and grey. As the sleds turned, their bodies were thrown up against the sled sides or the rabbits they were riding with. Then, before they knew it, they were jerking to a stop in front of a house in a small town.

"That…that was insane," Usopp said, hanging over the front of the sled with his skin tinted green.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Brook said.

"I don't feel so good," Bepo said, his eyes rolling around in his head.

"Beginners," Tippy said with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, I'm out of here," Jigsaw said, jumping off the sled. "See you tomorrow."

"Later, bud," Tippy said.

"Are you three all right?" Bijou asked when the pirates didn't dismount with them.

"We…we're fine," Usopp said, prying his fingers off the bar in front of him.

"I thought I was going to die," Brook said, stepping out of the sled, he fell onto the snowy ground. "But then I am already dead so…"

"That was way more intense that we thought it was going to be," Bepo said, smoothing down his wind blown fur.

"Well, we did warn you," Bijou said.

"Thanks a lot," Usopp grumbled. He then turned his eyes to the buildings around him with a heavy sigh. They all, like the mountain, was carved into ice. "Great more ice. I'm going to have to wear this coat all the time."

"It's not as cold inside as you might think," Gnash said. "Kids, take care of the cabbits. I'll show our guests to their room."

"Sure thing, Papa," Bijou said as she and her brothers lead the cabbits around the side of the house.

"Come on," Gnash said with a wave. "I'll show you around now."

"Great," Usopp said. Hunkering down in his parka, he grumbled to himself. "I don't want to work in an ice cube. Why in the world would I want to live in one?"

"Surely it won't be that bad," Brook said. "Let's just check it out."

"Fine," Usopp said. He pushed himself forward wishing with all of his might that Neo was with them or they'd get lucky and free the shard within just a few days. An unexpected gasp left his lips when he entered into the house and was met by a rush of warmth from a fire. He whipped his eyes right to the source of the heat and gasped. There was a rather large fire burning in a fireplace carved out of ice. "What?! How is this possible?! How is that ice not melting with all that heat?!"

"We coat the ice in a special sealing liquid. Once it morphs to the ice there's no way to get it off," Gnash said, removing his parka. "So no matter how hot a fire burns, the ice won't melt one single bit.

"This is amazing!" Usopp said, running his eyes over the room. It was just like any other living room he had seen before with the living room, dinning room, and kitchen all making up one room with a staircase on the left side of the kitchen. The only difference was just about everything was made of ice. Only the living room chairs and couch were made of soft cushions.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting a fire at all," Brook said.

"You can hang your clothes up here with mine," Gnash said, placing his parka on a hook in a small closet near the door.

"Thanks a lot," Usopp said, hanging his parka up with his friends.

"This way to your room," Gnash then said. The pirates followed him up the stairs and down the hall to the last door on the left. "The other rooms belong to the kids. I hope you three don't mind sharing a room. It the only one we have left."

"Yeah, this will do fine," Usopp said, running his eyes over the room. There were three bunks built into the walls with ice desks and a chair beneath each one. A large closet took up the wall to their left, while another door was on their right.

"We're use to sharing a room," Brook added. "And this place is actually about the same size as our room back home."

"Same with me," Bepo said. "I don't mind at all."

"That's good to hear," Gnash said, pointing to the other door. "You even have your own bathroom to share. We offer this place to extra help when the foundation feels like sending them out until they can get a place of their own to stay."

"Oh, yeah," Usopp said. "You were going to tell us about the foundat-" He paused when his stomach interrupted him with a very loud growl. "I forgot we haven't eating in hours."

"I forgotten about that as well," Brook said.

"Then lets get you something to eat," Gnash said, heading back downstairs. Once down in the kitchen, he started pulling out all kinds of vegetables and fruits for the pirates while they sat down at the table. "Here you go. Eat up. We have plenty."

"Great," Usopp said, soundly less thrilled than his stomach was. At least they had something to eat despite it all being vegetables and fruits. So he wasn't going to complain about it.

"Sorry that all we have to offer you is this," Gnash said when he noticed Bepo was slowly picking at the food. "Our diets consist of nothing but fruits and vegetables."

"It's all right," Bepo said. "I can eat them just fine."

"We do have ice holes in the floor of our home," Gnash said.

"Ice holes?" Usopp asked, alarmed.

"Don't worry," Gnash said. "We're completely safe on them. A lake actually runs underneath the snow and ice here. When the homes were constructed ice holes were put in so those who eat meat can fish."

"So there are other creatures here besides yourselves?" Brook asked while Gnash moved around the kitchen to prepare them something to drink.

"Yes." Gnash nodded. He placed a steel pot on the stove and turned on the burner. Letting it heat up before pouring some purplish liquid inside of it. He then placed a lid over it and turned back to the pirates. "You'll meet them soon enough. We'll have to get you some rods to fish with, but you're more that welcome to use our kitchen. We should probably get you some more clothes. I'll have my kids look through our old stuff and see if we can find something that will fit you all until you have enough monetary gain to support yourselves."

"We appreciate it," Usopp said.

"Yes, thank you very much," Brook said.

"Thank you," Bepo said. "Now what about this foundation? You said before that you've tried to take them on or something."

"Yes, we have," Gnash said, his once smiling face turning gloomy. "But the only thing we managed to accomplish was losing some of the workers we already had."

"What do you mean by that?" Usopp asked, feeling the dread pouring into the room.

"The foundation doesn't like being told what to do," Gnash said. "So when we protested against them, they retaliated and ended up killing some of our workers."

"That's awful," Brook said.

"One of them was my beloved," Gnash said, looking at a picture on the wall that was near by of an older female bunny that looked like Bijou. He brushed his eyes before pulling out some mugs and placing them on the table for his guests. "She was an amazing worker. And she was one of the strongest supporters of taking on the foundation."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Usopp said.

"Thank you," Gnash said. He picked the steaming pot up off the stove and walked it over to the table. He poured the hot liquid into the mugs while he continued. "That was about seven years ago now. So I'm not really all that sad anymore. I know my beloved wouldn't want me or our children to be sad. She was so passionate about what she believed in."

"If the foundation is that bad, why keep working for them?" Bepo asked.

"We don't really have much choice," Gnash said. "There nothing else to do. And with the Time Spheres not working there no possible way to move to another Time Dome."

"Time what now?" Brook asked.

"Huh?" Gnash gave them a skeptical look. "How could you not know about the Time Spheres and Time Domes?

"Never mind him!" Usopp said, shoving a carrot into Brook's mouth. "We know all about them! His brain, if he had one, is just frozen! We need a little more time to thaw out! That's all!"

"Ah, yes, that makes sense I guess," Gnash said, heading for the stairs. "Well, I'd get started on finding you some more clothes to wear. If you'll excuse me."

"Sure," Usopp said. "Take your time. If you need any help, just let us know."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine, "Gnash said before disappearing back up the stairs."

"So what do you think he meant by the Time Spheres and Time Domes?" Bepo asked.

"From the way he worded things it sounds like the Time Spheres are some form of traveling. So that must mean the island we're currently on is called Time Dome," Usopp said.

"He said Time Domes," Brook said. "So maybe that means we're on a cluster of islands called Time Domes."

"That's a possibility," Bepo said. "I'm just glad we found some friendly people here."

"That is a good thing, but we still need to be careful about what we say and how we act," Usopp said. "We're a long way from our home and friends. And we have no idea how these people will react if they discover we're not really from this foundation place."

"It sounds like such a horrible place too," Brook said. "I wish there was something we could do about it."

"But we can't. So don't try and pull us into their problems like Luffy would," Usopp said. He took a drink of the hot liquid before continuing. "We have to get that shard and get out of here. Besides once the Time Spheres, or whatever they are, start working they'll all leave to go find Neo. I'm sure of it."

"You're probably correct," Brook said.

"At least the drink is nice," Bepo said, taking another sip of his hot beverage. "It smells really sweet but has more of a soft bitter taste to it."

"It sure is," Usopp said taking another drink himself. "I wonder what it is. It kind of tastes like oranges. I know Nami would love it."

"Neo would love it too," Bepo said, becoming depressed at the thought of his favorite blue haired girl not being around.

"We'll work even harder tomorrow," Brook said. "We pretty much know the location of the shard. And chipping away at the ice will be easier than we thought. All we have to do now is just be patient until we can get the shard out."

"Yeah." Bepo nodded.

"Well, I wonder what there is to do around here," Usopp said. He stood up from his chair and walked around the room. He picked a book off a shelf and started flipping through it. "They don't look like they have all that much. And this book is fill with the same strange lines as the monkey's map."

"Maybe they really do speak a different language than we do," Brook offered. "A lot of people can speak more than one language."

"Yeah." Usopp nodded and placed the book back on the shelf. "Let's just hope they don't ask us to read anything from any books. I don't even think I could come up with a good enough lie to get us out of that one."

…

Neo brushed away the remaining tears on her cheeks before finishing off the spearmint flavored drink that the sprites had given her. With the last bit on her tongue, she finally noticed the drink basically felt like silk. She held out her empty glass and said, "Thank you. It was good."

"It's a drink that was developed to help calm people down," Velocity said, engulfing her magic around the glass, she flew it over to the sink to be washed later. "It's also packed full of vitamins that are really healthy for you and your baby."

"Man, you've been through a ton of misfortune," Elian said, flicking his wings while he looked up at Neo from her knee. "No wonder you freaked out like you did when you woke up."

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "I've gotten better at dealing with new places and people. But I still can't handle being cornered or touched by people I don't know."

"You don't seem to have a problem with us touching you," Elian said, his eyes lifting to Celeste who was lying on Neo's head.

"That's because you're so small and nonthreatening," Neo said. "If you were a threat to me, I'd be able to sense it a bit and wouldn't let you all touch me."

"Well, it's nice to hear that you trust us," Velocity said when she rejoined them. "And I'm sorry about Pendulum doing all of this to you and your friends."

"Thank you," Neo said.

"And don't worry about him touching you," Elian said. "Despite his cocky attitude earlier, I doubt that he'll actually touch you. He was just using your fear to try and control you."

Neo nodded. "I'm just glad he didn't touch me and I didn't lose that delicious meal you all made for me."

"You sound like you're feeling better," Velocity noted.

"Feeling better! Feeling better!" Celeste sang.

"I will once I get reunited with my crew," Neo said. "But I'm not sure how I'm going to survive a month or two without them."

"I don't believe it will be that long," Velocity said.

"What do you mean?" Neo asked.

"Each of the Time Domes are different from the rest," Velocity said. "The challenges your friends will be facing will be different from the rest. So my guess is they'll start showing up some time this week. Just because the shards are shattered and scattered doesn't mean that someone already has them in their possession. Some of them could just be lying around on the ground just waiting to be picked up by your friends."

"She's correct," Elian said.

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "I guess so."

"We'll entertain you while we're here," Velocity said. "We can tend the plots together. If you don't find that kind of thing to boring for you."

"The plots?" Neo asked.

"You might know them better as fields or gardens," Elian said.

"I see. So those were real gardens out there," Neo said.

"We have to eat as well," Elian said. "Usually the majority of the food that's grown here is for vacationers. But with no one coming here since the Time Spheres stopped working, we have all we want and then some. It'll be nice to share it with someone else for a change."

"So what do we do now?" Neo asked.

"Well, it's getting a bit late now," Velocity said, glancing over at the window. Colorful rays of the sun were starting to pour into the windows. "And you need your rest. It's been a long day for you and your baby. Things will look better tomorrow."

"I suppose your correct," Neo said. She stood up when Elian flew off her knee and headed out of the kitchen. They all remained quiet as they walked back up the stairs and into the room she had woken up in. She paused once inside of the room and stared at the bed. Her heart ached at the thought of having to sleep alone, without Law by her side. She reached up and pulled his hat off her head. Bringing it down to her face, she pressed her nose into it, with deep breaths she took in his scent in an attempt not to cry again.

"Bed! Bed!" Celeste said making a beeline right to it so she could bounce up and down on it.

"Is there something we can do to make your stay here more comfortable?" Velocity asked.

"Do you have extra pillows?" Neo asked, lifting up from Law's hat.

"We do," Elian said. "What do you want them for, if I may ask?"  
"Well, I'm use to sleeping near the wall on my left side while Law sleeps on my right side," Neo explained. "Normally, I'd just move the bed to mimic our room, but this one can't be moved."

"Say no more, Princess," Velocity said.

Neo watched as she and Elian disappeared out of the door. Not knowing what she really wanted to do now, she walked over to the balcony. The doors opened up for her and she stepped outside just in time to see the remaining sunset changed into a starry sky. She murmured, "Everything feels so fake here. There's no real sun, no real stars, and moon, there aren't any animals of any kind, and there are fake plants. I hope you all come back soon. I really don't want to stay here for months."

She sighed heavily, her mind wondering what the others were going through at the moment. Was it getting nighttime where they were? Did they all have some place to keep them dry and warm? Did they have food to eat? Did Penguin find some first aid kit to take care of his injury? She didn't know. And she wouldn't know, possibly for weeks to months on how they were doing. The only one she could possibly see before then was Law. But she didn't feel secure enough here, even with the sprites, to attempt using their Projection to go see him. She wasn't even sure they were close enough for it to work. Still, she wanted to try. Maybe if a couple of her friends came back she would be able to do it then?

She tightened her hold on Law's hat while she continued to stare up at the dome ceiling's artificial nighttime scene. It looked so real. But she knew it was completely fake. She yearned for the real thing. She yearned to be back on the sub with Law and her crew around her while they laid out on the deck starting up at the billions of stars decorating their real sky. When they got back she was going to have every single one of them do that with her. They were going to just lay out under the stars and be thankful for having each other. She closed her eyes, letting tears streak down her cheeks. "We will be reunited. God, please…you all be safe as you possibly can be and come back to me soon. I'll stay as strong as I can for you all. I'll be waiting for you."

"Princess," Elian called as he flew over to her. "Please, come back inside now, lay down, and get some rest. It will do you no good to sit up and worry all night long. I know your friends wouldn't want you to worry."

Neo knew she needed to go inside. But how could she possibly sleep when she was all by herself? She peaked over her shoulder to find that the pillows had been laid out on the bed to mimic a wall and Law and Celeste was already fast asleep on one of them. It only made her heart tighten even more in her chest seeing the bed now like that. A substitute would never work.

"Elian's correct," Velocity added, joining them out on the balcony. "You're only going to stress yourself out more if you stay out here and stare up at the ceiling."

"I know." Neo sighed, pulling herself away from the fake sky above. She walked over to the bed to lay down, but paused.

"Would you like to change out of your dress?" Velocity said. "There are plenty of clothes for you to wear here. They might not be to your style, but they're better than nothing."

"No," Neo said. "I don't feel like taking off my dress. It was what I was wearing when I was last with Law."

"We understand," Velocity said.

"We also set out items for you to clean your teeth," Elian said. "They're in the bathroom if you wish to use them."

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "I should at least brush my teeth. Law won't want me to get a cavity."

She walked over to the bathroom. Upon entering it, she noticed a strangely shaped looking toothbrush, or what she assumed was a toothbrush since it was sitting next to a normal look tube of toothpaste. She picked them both up with one hand. She found that the toothbrush felt like some kind of rubber and was about a half inch thick while being four inches long. The bristles were also rubber feeling. They stuck out like nubs on the end of the brush. She untwisted the lid to the tube and push a little of its contents out. The smell of cinnamon lifted up to her nose. At least it was a smell she could identify so hopefully it would taste just fine. She brought it up to her mouth and inserted it. Slowly, she began to pull the tiny nubs over her teeth. It felt awkward at first but she got use to it after a few seconds. After rinsing out her mouth she used the other facility before heading back out to the bed.

Without a word to the spites, she climbed onto the bed and sunk down between the pillows and under the cover. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Velocity lying down on a pillow near her head while her brother kept himself at the opposite end of the bed. She didn't mind where they slept. While they weren't Law or anyone else from her two crews, she was a bit glad that she wasn't completely alone here. She exhaled and closed her eyes. It didn't take very long for her eyes to pop back open. There was just no way she was going to be able to sleep much to night if she slept at all. So she rolled over on her back, holding Law's hat to her chest and fingering his ring. Staring up at the ceiling, she tried to figure out where her crews were and what they were doing.


	10. Into the Domes P3

Into the Domes

Part Three

Sanji puffed on his cigarette and released the smoke from his mouth as Pendulum's image faded away from him. Sighing heavily, he let his eyes drop down to the monkey that was still in front of him. The monkey's glowing eyes shifted back to their lifeless stare. "Must you keep staring at me like that? I know you're supposed to be babysitting me, but it's really creepy that you keep doing that."

The monkey's eyes started to glow again. This time it formed a holographic map for the cook. Sanji blinked then studied the map for a few minutes before speaking up again. "Well, this is a strange map. I'm assuming those marks on here are words of some kind? Anyway, it looks like the shard is inside of this city somewhere. I guess you do have a useful side after all. It would have been a serious pain in the butt if I had to look for this thing the traditional way. This place is so huge. And I'll be up a creak without a paddle since I can't fly. I have my Sky Walk but there's no way I'll be able to get everywhere with just that."

Sanji stood up, dropped his cigarette, and smothered it out with his shoe. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked back to the edge of the building. Looking down he studied the lack of ladders or staircases on the building. "I know these people can fly, but having no fire escape of any kind can't be a good thing. Surely someone at some point in time won't be able to fly. Losing a wing would be the worst thing of all. Well, we might as well start looking for the shard. We're going to get no where near it by standing around here all day."

He watched as the monkey ran over to him. It jumped up on his shoulder and waited. Sanji's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the monkey using him for a free ride. "You are extremely luck I need you to get the shard and get back to Neo. Otherwise I'd just leave you right here on top of this building. Well, here we go. Sky Walk."

Sanji jumped from the building. Using his Sky Walk technique, he started making his way down to the streets. Everything was just fine until a group of people flew by him. He lost his balance from the draft they created and plummeted towards the hard ground.

"Hey! Watch it you moron!" someone from the group said.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?!" Sanji snapped back. "You're the one who almost hit me! Sky Walk!" Reactivating his Sky Walk, Sanji hit the air a couple times before landing none to gracefully on the ground. He stumbled forward a few feet before finding his balance. He adjusted his skew tie and put his hands back inside of his pockets. "I hope they're all not that rude here. I won't be able to survive if they are."

"You got a problem with how we fly?" someone asked.

Sanji looked up to see that the group of people had came back and was now surrounding him. His eyes widened in shock to find that these people were actually birds. The majority of them stood several inches taller than he was. Some of the bird species he noticed easily enough. They were birds like falcons, eagles, doves, and other such birds they found on the sea or island. While some of the other birds he couldn't identify at all. Their skins, or feathers, he really wasn't sure what they had, were all different shades of colors found in nature. Some were even unnatural colors that he never saw on birds before. He also noticed that this flock of birds was all wearing the exact same R shaped insignia on their bodies at different places. _They looked like they're in a gang or something. I wonder if they're possibly pirates._

"Are you hard of hearing or something?" the falcon bird asked again.

"No, I'm not," Sanji said. "And, yes, as a matter of fact, I do have a problem with how you fly. You could have hurt someone with that kind of wild flying."

The falcon dropped down right in front of the blonde cook. With a cocky grin, he leaned forward and said, "You clearly have no idea who you are messing with. We _own_ this territory. We will fly any way we like."

Sanji forced himself not to gag. The bird's breath smelled like worms and dirt combined with a bad smell that suggested this bird had a very bad cavity, if the bird people here had teeth. Which shouldn't have been so surprising. Since they're birds they probably do eat worms.

"Hey, this guy has no wings," another one said.

"No kidding," a third one said as they all, but the falcon, gathered behind him to see his wingless back.

"Did you lose your wings or something?" a fourth one asked. "Why kind of bird are you?"

"Or something," Sanji replied. "A very…rare one."

The falcon chuckled. "Then no wonder you're in such a bad mood right now and talking out against us like that. I'll let it slide just this once. But don't ever do it again."

"How sweet of you," Sanji said. "But I don't need your kindness. I will continue to tell you what horrible job of flying you're doing."

"What?!" the falcon hissed.

"You heard me. Or do _you_ have a hearing problem?" Sanji said.

"That does it!" The falcon grabbed Sanji by the front of his shirt. "You're going to pay fo-"

Sanji whipped around, kicking the bird right in his beak. He then spun around and kicked the rest of them that was still close to him, sending them flying several feet away from him.

"You're going to pay for that!" the falcon hissed. He spread out his thirteen foot wingspan and took to the air with one powerful stroke.

Sanji follow the bird's ascension until he could no longer see his enemy. Without warning, something flew past him and pain stung his right side. He looked down just as his warm blood leaked out of a cut on his skin. "What the heck was that?"

"Falcons are some of the top fliers here," a gang member said. "You've dug your own grave with your insolence."

"I see," Sanji said, activating his Observation Haki. "So he was just flying really fast and cut me."

"Yeah, and now you're going to die," the gang member said.

"Sorry," Sanji said, spotting the falcon coming back in for another attack. He held his ground until the last possible moment. When the falcon was close enough, he slammed his foot onto the bird's head, smashing him into the ground, causing the ground to crack and rumble at the disturbance. "But I will not be dying today or any time soon. I have a very special young woman waiting for me to return to her."

"Get him!" one of the gang members said.

Sanji braced himself for another fight. But before he could land another blow on another one, he felt his body fly backwards. He expected to hit the ground or a wall, but he just kept on flying. Coming back to his sense, he noticed he was being flown away by a bird with white feathers. "What the heck?"  
"I was just about to ask you that same question," the bird said. "What were you thinking? Attacking the Raptor Gang like that?"

"The Raptor Gang?" Sanji asked, the monkey digging his mechanical claws into his shoulder to hang on. He looked back towards the way they had come from to find that the gang was chasing after them.

"Hold on," the bird said.

Sanji gritted his teeth when the bird took a nosedive into the dark hole below them. The light cut out and the next thing he knew, they were back above the hole and hiding behind a building. "What the…how did we get over here so fast?"  
"I might not be one of the fastest of the birds, but we all know how to move when it comes to avoiding danger," the bird said.

"Well, uh, thanks for your help," Sanji said. Turning his eyes to his rescuer, he found the bird person looked like a dove. "I guess."

"I take it you're not from this area," the dove said, folding his wings down to his back.

"That obvious, huh?" Sanji asked.

"Completely." The dove nodded. "For starters you picked a fight with the Raptor Gang. And secondly, you have no wings."

"Oh, yeah." Sanji glanced over his shoulder. _Crap. I can't think of a single thing cover story for not having any wings. Maybe me being human will help with that._

"You're here to get fitted for prosthetics, aren't you?" the dove asked.

"You guess right," Sanji said, looking back at the dove.

"You picked a good place for it despite the gangs here," the dove said, adjusting the pack he was carrying over his shoulder. "This sector has the best doctors when it comes to artificial wings."

"Glad to hear it," Sanji said, he held out his hand. "I'm Sanji by the way."

"My name is Colman," Colman said. "Sorry I can't stay around any longer, but I have to get to a contest now."

"No problem," Sanji said. "Thanks for your help."

"Sure." Colman spread out his wings and took to the air. "See you around."

"Yeah." Sanji watch the bird fly off before glancing at the monkey who was now standing on the ground. "All right, let's see where that shard is now."

The monkey's eyes lit up once more, showing the map upon the pirate's request.

"Well," Sanji said, "it looks like we actually moved closer to the shard. Thanks a lot, Colman. You saved me some walking."

Sanji stepped out of the alleyway he was in. He turned to his left and started heading in the direction the shard was in. Weaving through the crowds of bird people, he carefully observed the world around him for possibly threats or anything else that might actually be useful to him. He couldn't help but noticed that the majority of the bird people he saw walking or just hanging around at various locations looked like thugs. And they all were wearing the exact same R insignia as the other gang members were. "Geez. This place is literally running over with gang members. How many of them are there?"

Sanji paused to observe the people more. He noticed that every single bird person that passed by a gang member would keep their eyes down and clutch whatever they were carrying, if they were carrying something. Mothers were hurrying their children along, while men, the elderly, and teenagers would step aside for the gang members. They didn't make any eye contact with any of those who looked like they were in a gang.

A frown curled onto his lips when he saw one gang member picked up a stone. The bird tossed the rock up and down a couple of times before tossing it into a near by window. The window shattered, creating a decent size hole in it, the pieces raining down on the ground. A store worker came rushing out and demanded to know who threw the rock. "Who threw that?! Someone's got to pay for it now!"

"I did, Pops. You got a problem with that?" the gang member said. His fellow members gather around him with smirks on their beaks, causing the storeowner to become fearful.

"N-no sir, it was all my fault." The store worker wrung his hands as he back away from the gang. "I should have been more careful with what I was doing. Please excuse me."

"Yeah, sure."

"Get back to work, ol' man."

"Did you see how scared he was?"

"Totally a weakling."

"This is just sickening. Picking on the weak like that." Sanji narrowed his eyebrows, but continued walking. He wanted to fight, but knew he shouldn't. For one, this wasn't his problem. Two, he had his own issue to deal with. Three, he had already made an enemy from this particular gang. He figured they were going to run back to their boss and tell him or her what had happened. If that happened there would be an entire gang on his heels. And from the looks of how many were wearing the Raptor insignia, they had a lot of people. He wouldn't be able to handle them all himself. He would need to have at least Luffy with him.

He hated that he couldn't do anything. But he knew it was the correct decision so he shoved his hands into his pockets and kept on walking. Eventually, the map had led him to a courtyard where a lot of people were gathering around cheering for something. He made his way into the crowd. Weaving in and out of the feathered bodies until he found a place where he could see what was going on. It was a cooking contest. There was a circle platform where ten bird people were cooking up a storm. And one of them was the white dove, Colman, which he had met before.

As he watched the contest and listened to the crowd cheering and jeering, he easily picked out that there were two favorites among the ten bird people cooking. One of them was Colman while the other was a falcon. The falcon was wearing the exact same insignia as the gang members only his was gold. Seeing as how the others were silver, he figured this guy was the leader or at least the right hand, or wing, bird of the leader. The gang members were also throwing out profanities at the dove guy.

"Come on, boss!" a gang member said.

"Yeah! You can defeat these losers easily!"

"You can do it, boss!"

"You're the best, boss!"

"Colman, you suck!"

"You're a horrible cook, Colman!"

Sanji shook his head. His anger was building up in his chest at the shameless display. But was really got his blood boiling was when the gang members started throwing things at the cooks. Gritting his teeth and clenching his hands, he mentally nailed his feet to the ground when the gang's projectiles landed in the food and the cooks threw the food out. "Such morons! Do they not know how precious food is?! If I wasn't alone I'd show them all how to properly handle food!"

The monkey chirped in his ear.

"What do you want?" Sanji said, forcing his voice to go back to normal. The monkey flashed him the map really quickly, reminding him why they were really here. "Yeah, that stupid shard is around here somewhere."

Sanji faded back into the crowd of birds and made his way around the area in search for the shard. A few minutes later, the monkey chirped at him again. He tucked himself behind a tree so the thing could show him the map again. It looked like they were right on top of the sharp. Stepping out from behind the tree, he carefully and slowly ran his eyes over the immediate area. His eyes then landed upon a table were a couple of official looking guards were standing around ten golden bars and a trophy that had an odd shape mirror shard on top of it. Thinking that had to be what he was looking for he made his way over to the object and looked inside of it.

Sanji eyed the guards as he got closer to the table. He saw them tense up a bit, but they didn't make any move to keep him moving along. Leaning a respectful distance closer, he noticed that his reflection didn't appear in the mirror. It was definitely the shard he was looking for. He walked away from the table to make it appear he was only looking at what he assumed was the prize for winning this contest. Wondering back over to the crowd, he positioned himself near a small group of birds that looked to be normal citizens instead of gang members. Casually, he lit a cigarette then he asked, "Excuse me, sir, but this is a cooking contest, isn't that correct?"

"You got it." The bird nodded.

"And that," Sanji nodded towards the table, "is the prize for winning?"

The bird opened his beak to reply, but stopped when a gang member interrupted him. He and a few others ducked their heads and quickly walked off.

"Of course that's the prize for winning. What are you stupid or something?" The gang member looked him up and down. "I see you have no wings. You must be here to get prosthetics. And that means you're not from around here."

"No, I'm not from this place." Sanji blew out some smoke. "So you could say that I'm here for prosthetics. But I'm mostly here on a bit of a vacation."

"Good," the gang member said, crossed his arms. "We don't like having strangers wondering around in our territory. So as long as you're not staying for very long we won't have a problem with you."

"Don't worry. I have no intention on staying here for very long at all. But I'd like to know, is it too late for anyone else to enter the contest?" Sanji asked.

The gang members laughed.

"You are stupid, aren't you?" another gang members said.

"Don't blame him," a third gang member said. "Like he said before, he's not from here so he doesn't know what the rules are in this territory."

"This contest started at the beginning of last month. Hundreds always enter in this thing, but only one will always win. And that one just happens to be our boss. He always wins the contest here," the first gang member who had spoken before spoke again. "And he's always going to win because he's the best at cooking and flying."

"What does flying have to do with cooking?" Sanji asked.

"You really are stupid." The gang member shoved a pamphlet into Sanji's chest.

Sanji, pushing down his anger, glanced down at the pamphlet. While he couldn't understand the words that were on it he could understand the picture. Several birds appeared to be flying around some sort of obstacle course to gather supplies for the item they were going to cook. _Well, this is interesting._

"Well, the boss isn't going to win this year if Colman keeps it up," the second gang member jerked his chin at the dove cook. "He's totally into it this year. And he's passed all the preliminaries too. His flying has gotten whole lot better from the previous years as well."

"Shut up!" The third gang member grabbed the second by the front of his shirt and pulled him close to his face. "The boss won't lose to a loser like _him_! The boss will win!"

"I know the boss is a good cook, but he can't always be on top all of the time!" The bird grabbed his rival's shirt as well. "If you want to fight about it then-"

"Chill out! You two are acting like hatchlings!" the first gang member ordered. The other two released each other and straightened themselves up but maintained the snarls on their faces. "If Colman becomes a real threat then the boss will have it taken care of easily enough. You all know that."

Sanji's eyebrow twitched. He could see the malicious intent growing in their eyes. It was clear that these birds didn't play fair. But then they were gang members after all. He didn't know a single gang member that would play fair.

"Yeah, yeah," the gang grumbled.

"Well, we have things to do now. Find someone else to answer your ridiculous questions if you have anymore." The gang walked off without another glance in the pirate's direction.

Sanji kept his eyes on the gang as they walked away, intimidating as many people as they possibly could as they went. Once they were out of his sight, he looked back over at Colman. While it really wasn't his concern, he was still worried for the bird. There was no way one single person could take on all of these gang members. And he had only seen a couple of them. He had no idea how many there were in the Raptor Gang at all. With nothing better to do he settled in to watch the contest while thinking about the predicament he was in concerning both the shard and the gang and thinking about what Pendulum had said before.

 _"You all are currently safe for the moment. I, however, cannot say how long that will last since I don't really know all of the areas you are in."_

 _"I've been watching you all for a long time. And I believe you have all the skills necessary to succeed in your missions."_

 _Sure you didn't know anything about these areas. And, yet, here I am_ the cook _of the Straw Hat crew being dumped in, wherever this place is, during a_ _cooking contest_. Sanji thought to himself. He took a long drawl on his cigarette as his eyes wondered down to the silent monkey holding onto his shoulder. _That guy clearly lied to us about this. So is this guy really after the shards like he said or is Neo his real target and these shards are just a way to keep us busy? No, that can't be it. If he really wanted Neo, then why reveal himself to us at all? Why not just take Neo when she's alone or just with Law? Why bother taking all of us? At least I now know that the others will be in situations that they can handle easily enough. If only I had some way to get that information back to Neo. I guess the best thing for me to do is to figure out a way to either enter into the contest or steal the trophy._

Sanji sighed and let his eyes wondered back over to the table with the rewards sitting on it. The guards surrounding it looked rather beefy to him. And with the situation he got himself into with that flacon earlier, he figured these birds were going to be rather tough opponents. That meant winning the shard was really his only option. But how could he possibly do that when the deadline to enter has already passed? Could he possibly talk the winner into just giving it to him without having to explain why he needed the shard? That would work if he got lucky and the winner of this contest wanted absolutely nothing to do with the trophy.

"Times up!" the announcer said. "Now the judges will sample the dishes and will soon announce those who will be advancing. Please wait patiently until then."

Sanji leaned back against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest as they all waited for the judges to make their decision. About fifteen minutes later the announcer's voice rang out over the crowd once more. He announced the names of the winners moving on to the next and final round of the contest. The only name recognized was Colman. And at the sound of the guy's name, Sanji instantly started searching the crowd for the Raptor gang members he was talking to before. He found them huddled together with more of their group. They straightened up when their boss, who didn't look at all happy with the results from the judges, walked over to them. He watched the boss speak to his underlings. Soon a menacing looks passed through the group then over to Colman who was busy packing up his cooking supplies. Then the gang disappeared into the crowd while their boss headed off in a different direction. "Good grief."

Sanji stayed close to Colman while the crowd started clearing out of the area. Once Colman had his stuff packed up, he followed after the bird since he was obviously unaware of what was about to happen to him. As casually as he possibly could, he followed Colman from a safe distance until some of the crowd spread out their wings and took to the air. _Crap. If Colman takes off flying I might not be able to keep up with him, even with my Sky Walk._ He dropped his eyes back down and saw Colman's white feathers turn around a corner. He rushed forward, but only got about six feet before a group of birds poured out of a building and took to the air. "Just great."

Shuffling through the crowd of feathers as best he could, he managed to get through and rounded the corner where he had last saw Colman. A string of curses poured out of his mouth when he didn't see anyone down the alleyway. He still walked onward to see if he could locate the bird. The farther he walked down the alleyway he started to hear the all familiar sounds of a fist slamming into someone's body. He rushed forward and rounded another corner to find the Raptors ganging up on Colman. Colman was lying on the ground with blood dripping down his face and from what was obviously a badly broken arm since the bone was sticking out of it.

He dashed forward when one of the gang members brought back his foot in an attempt to kick Colman. Once close enough, he slammed his foot right into the gang member's foot easily shattering the bones. A piercing scream flowed out over the area while the rest of the gang looked on in surprise. Sanji took the moment to roundhouse kick the rest of them away before landing back on his feet. He said, "No matter the species, it's just pathetic to gang up on someone who clearly can't fight back. You gang members are nothing but pathetic lowlifes. If your boss can't handle losing gracefully then he shouldn't be in contests to begin with." He glared sharply at them. "And it really sickness me how you boneheads wasted all of the food by thrown garbage in it!"

"Hey, you're that guy from before that was asking all of those ridiculous questions!" The bird from before pointed at him accusingly. "I don't know who you are exactly, but you shouldn't interfere with our business! Get lost!"

"You're beating up someone who obviously doesn't have the skills to fight back or can no longer fight back because you morons ganged up on him. I'm _making_ it my business." Sanji flicked away his cigarette as the gang charged at him. With a barrage of kicks, he defeated the gang rather easily. "Well, that was a bit easier than I expected considering what happened before with another one of you. But from what I can gather, you all have the advantage when you're in the air while here on the ground you are at a disadvantage. I'll have to remember that for future references." He turned and walked over to Colman. The bird was already struggling to get into a sitting position so he helped him up the rest of the way. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm-Ah!" Colman grabbed his right arm.

"Okay, that really was a stupid question. Of course you're not fine with a broken arm like that. Come on. I'll help you get some help," Sanji said as he helped Colman get up off the ground. He grabbed the bird's bag and started helping him out of the alleyway.

"You're the guy from before. Why are you doing this?" Colman said.

"I owned you one for saving me. But we can talk about that later. Right now we needed to get you some help and get away before anymore gang members show up," Sanji said while hobblingly down the alleyway as fast as he possibly could. "Just guide me on how to get you to the nearest hospital or wherever you go to seek help for this kind of injure."

"The nearest clinic is two blocks that way," Colman said, nodding his head to his right once they got back to the main walkway.

"All right," Sanji said while they moved down the walkway. While they walked, he noticed a lot of people were taking notice of their struggle but no one was offering them any assistance. "Nice place you got here. You're clearly in bad shape yet no one offers to help."

"That's they way it is here," Colman said. "The Raptors are in control. If anyone does something they don't like…well…you can see what the results are."

"Yeah." Sanji nodded. Finally, after several minutes of walking, they finally entered into the clinic. A few nurses walked passed them before one took noticed of their presence. "Hey, he could use some help here."

"Oh dear," a nurse said as she rushed over to them. "Not another one."

Sanji stepped aside to let the nurse do her job. She placed Colman in a wheelchair then and took him through a double door. Not knowing what else to do, he walked over to the waiting room chairs and sat down. The monkey jumped off his shoulder and sat beside him in another chair.

A little over an hour later, Sanji was still waiting patently in the waiting room of the clinic when a dove lady, wearing a simple faded yellow dress and a sling around her neck, came rushing in. "Where is he?! Where's Colman?! Where is my mate?!"

"Calm down, ma'am. Your mate is being looked at by the medico," the attendant said while flipping through some papers. "The one who brought him in is still here, if you wish to speak with him."

"Yes! I want to speak to him! Where is he?!" The attendant pointed over at Sanji and the lady rushed over to him. "What happened?! Who are you?! Why did you help him?!"

"Calm down, ma'am." Sanji waved his hands at her. "I was just-"

"Tell me what happened!" she demanded.

"Leta?" Colman's voice broke in before Sanji could attempt to calm her down again. "What are you doing here?"

"Colman! How dare you ask me that?! I heard you were seriously injured! Where else would I be?!" Leta rushed over to him for a hug but paused upon seeing his arm plastered in a cast and held in a sling. "Your arm!"

"It's not that bad." Colman smiled.

"Not that bad?!" Leta cried, tears streaming down her white cheeks. "Your arm is broken! How are you supposed to cook like that?! You can't! You can't win like that at all! We're never going to be able to move away from here! Our last hope has been taken away! I told you this would happen! I told you they wouldn't like it that you're better than him!"

"Calm down, honey," Colman begged, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I-it's not over just yet. I still have one arm left. I can still cook like this with no problem."

"And win?" Sanji finally said, stepping closer to them. "I mean no disrespect, but you can't win like that. I watched you all during the contest today. With how hostile the crowd was it can't be done."

"Who are you?" Leta asked as if she hadn't seen Sanji just seconds before.

"Leta, this is the man who helped me. His name is, um…" Colman looked to Sanji to fill in his name that he had forgotten apparently.

"Sanji." Sanji nodded at them. "And I might have a solution to your problem if you're willing to listen to it."

"Really?" Colman asked. "Why would you help us? You don't even know who we ever are."

"That's a bit of a complicated issue. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" Sanji asked, his eyes scanned around the busy hospital.

"Of course," Colman nodded. "We can talk at our home."

Sanji followed the two doves out of the clinic with the monkey once again on his shoulder. Once outside, he said, "That's nice and all, but I hope you have a home on the ground. I've noticed a serious lack of stairs around here."

"We don't need them," Leta said. She and Colman spread out their white wings. With a few flaps, they lifted into the air then each placed a hand underneath Sanji's armpits and lifted him into the air.

Sanji gasped softly when he found they could easily lift him and the monkey up. With in about five minutes they were landing on a slightly rundown balcony outside of a tree. He patiently waited while Leta unlocked the door and helped Colman inside. He followed quietly and took in the small apartment. It was a bit run down as well. There was only one chair and one loveseat in the room, a small uneven table with three different chairs surrounding it in the kitchen, and there were two other doors in the room that he assumed was a bedroom and a bathroom. He noticed easily that the room smelled like leaves, grass, and straw. He wondered if that was used in their beds and seats since they were birds and their apartment was built inside of a tree.

"Here you go, honey," Leta said, helping her mate onto the loveseat. "Easy now."

"I'm fine, Leta," Colman said before turning his attention to Sanji. "Okay, so what did you want to talk about? And despite the fact we brought you into our home and with how you helped me, we're still a bit skeptical of you."

"I can easily understand that," Sanji said. "I'd feel the exact same as you do if I was in your position."

"So what do you want?" Leta asked, sitting down beside her mate.

"Well, I _need_ the trophy that comes with winning this cooking contest that you're in," Sanji stated simple. He looked down at the monkey who was now standing beside his leg. He knew he had to be careful with his words. And he hoped that he would be able to figure out how to word what he needed to say correctly so he didn't break any of the rules Pendulum placed them under.

"But we need that prize gold to move away from here! We can't let our babies be hatched here in this horrible place!" Leta cried, her eyes filling with tears. Her hands pressed snuggling against the sling around her body.

"Babies?" Sanji dropped his eyes down to the sling the bird woman was wearing. Inside of the sling were two light brown spotted eggs. "Those are…"

"I'm sorry, but we can't give you the prize gold," Colman said. "We must have that if we're going to move out of this territory."

"I don't want the prize gold," Sanji said, receiving surprised looks from the two bird people. "All I want is the trophy that comes with the prize gold."

"Why would you want that instead of the money?" Colman said. "It doesn't make sense."

"Well," Sanji said, still unsure of what he should say here. He paused to try and formulate an idea. One eventually came to him, but it was a long shot in the working department. "I need it because it belongs to someone I know. And I can't return to a good friend of mine until I have the shard in my possession."

"It belongs to someone else?" Leta asked.

"I can't say exactly who," Sanji said. "Let's just say that I'm currently working for the person who owns the shard."

"So it's a job?" Colman asked.

"Yeah, you could say that," Sanji said. "I have no need for the prize gold at all. I don't even have a need for the base of the trophy. I just need the decorative shard on top of it. So you all will still have the prize gold when I win."

"When you win?" Leta asked.

"I'm a first class chief where I come from," Sanji said before noticing a strange look passing between the birds. "What?"

"I'm sorry, but there's no possible way you can win," Colman said.

"Of course I can," Sanji said. "I just need you to teach me the locate dishes. I promise you that I can win."

"It's not that," Leta said.

"Then what is it?" Sanji asked.

"You're not a bird," Colman said.

"Yeah, I think we all can see that," Sanji said.

"You don't understand," Colman said. "Part of the competition involves flying around an obstacle course for the ingredients needed for your dish."

"Oh, yeah," Sanji said. "I saw a pamphlet about that."

"So it's impossible," Leta said. "We're going to be stuck here forever."

"Why exactly do you want to move away from here? Is it because of the gang?" Sanji asked.

"That's exactly why." Leta nodded.

"Forgive me, but can't someone just take them down?" Sanji asked. "Don't you all have guards, police, or something?"

"Things don't work that way here," Colman said. "We're birds. We always have a hierarchy. The strongest will always dominate over the weakest."

"Oh," Sanji said. _I guess this place is more like the animal kingdom than the human world I'm living in. And despite all the violence and gang activity here, Neo would love this place._ "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"It's fine," Leta said. "It's not your fault. The Raptors are just at the top of the hierarchy right now. They didn't use to be though. Another group use to run this territory and they were a lot nicer but when the Raptors showed up a few years ago, the former leaders of this territory got pushed out."

"The place you're planning on moving," Sanji said. "Is it where the former leaders now live?"  
"It is." Leta nodded, rubbing her hands tenderly over their eggs. "We want our hatchlings to grow up in a safer environment and learn how to properly live with each other. Not here where those in power abuse their power to keep control. The Raptors are always taking things away from us. We've lost so much furniture and food. We can only buy a day's worth of food at a time because the Raptors will just come take it."

"Then let me help you," Sanji said. "We're actually helping each other here."

"But how can you fly when you don't have wings?" Colman asked.

"Someone before mentioned prosthetics," Sanji said. "If it doesn't cost too much and doesn't take a lot of healing time to deal with after the surgery, I can do it."

"It still might not work," Colman said. "The procedure is very expensive and will take at least a month to recover from the surgery to be able to fly. Besides with the Falcons in control of this territory you have to get permission from their leader to have the surgery. And after what happened today that's going to be impossible to get."

Sanji gritted his teeth. His only chance of getting the shard was slipping through his fingers like water.

"What if we teamed up?" Leta asked.

"What?" Sanji looked back up at her.

"No!" Colman said, his face set in stone. "You will do no such thing! You know how tough those courses are!"

"Of course I know!" Leta shot back. "But I also know that we can't stay here! You know that too, Colman! You got lucky today! What if Sanji didn't come by today when you were getting beat up on by the Raptors?! They could have killed you! Do you want to take that chance again?! Well?! Do you?!"

"No, I don't," Colman said, cupping her face. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I already am hurt, Colman," Leta said, tears running down her cheeks. "It hurts that we're still living here under this threat. And it hurt so much to see you like this now. I could have lost you today. We could have lost you today. I don't want our hatchlings growing up without their father around."

"I'm sorry." Colman pulled Leta into his arm the best he could. "I'm sorry, Leta. I know you feel that way. And I'm sorry I haven't been good enough to get you away from here yet."

"Don't say things like that," Leta said.

"So do we have a deal?" Sanji asked.

"Yes." Colman nodded. "If you can win, the trophy is yours."

"And there's no problems with switching chiefs, is there?" Sanji said. "I wouldn't want to get disqualified."

"No, there's not," Colman said. "Due to the nature of the race they do allow a substitute chief if the current chief gets injured. The only requirements for the change is the judges have to know and the new chief has to cook the dish that's already been declared."

"That sounds easy enough," Sanji said. "When's the final round?"  
"In two weeks," Colman said.

"Two weeks, huh?" Sanji hummed. _That means it's going to be two weeks before I can reunite with Neo._

"Is that a problem?" Leta asked. "Do you have a deal line to meet or something?"  
"Something like that," Sanji mumbled then added in a low voice. "No, it's nothing. I was just thinking about a friend of mine. But it's nothing to worry about." He looked down at the monkey again. _Two weeks…I hope someone else shows up before that. Neo's going to go insane and have trouble sleeping. At the very least, I hope she doesn't have a nightmare about anything until someone is with her. Blast you, Pendulum! You're going to pay for this!_ He took a relaxing breath. "Then show me what I'm suppose to do. We only have less than two weeks for me to get good with your locate cuisines."

"Leta, do we have enough to start today?" Colman asked.

"We do." Leta nodded. "I was just finished up shopping and was putting everything away when I heard about you."

"Let's get started then," Colman said, pushing himself to his feet.

"You sure you want to start right now?" Sanji nodded to the bird's injured arm. "You did just get your arm broken after all."

"I'll be fine," Colman said, walking towards the kitchen. "Despite the Raptors being in control we have a great medical system here. With the herbal pain remedy they put me on I'm feeling great."

"That's good to hear," Sanji said. He waited patiently while Colman started pulling things out of the fridge and cabinets with Leta's help. Slowly, his eyes started to grow round as he stared at the ingredients put on display for him. The majority of the ingredients were live bugs. He swallowed hard. "Oh boy. This is not going to be easy."

"I'm going to run into town to pick up your pain prescription," Leta said, heading for the door. "When I get back I'll start on some training exercises for the course."

"Be careful, honey," Colman said. "Come right back immediately."

"I will," Leta said before disappearing out of the door.

"Is it all right for her to go out on her own?" Sanji said. "I mean you just upset the Raptors."

"She'll be fine," Colman said while placing a pan down on the stove. "She's actually a faster flyer than I am. She'll easily get away from them if they try and attack her."

"Well, if you say it's okay," Sanji said.

"It is." Colman smiled at the blonde man. "Besides, if they wanted to do something they could easily come here. They know where we live after all."

"Man, I really hope you two can get out of here," Sanji said.

"Thanks." Colman nodded. "For now let's just focus on cooking. It might take a while for you to learn how to do this dish since you're not a bird."

"So you noticed?" Sanji scratched the back of his head.

"It wasn't hard," Colman said. "So what are you?"

"Human," Sanji replied with a casual glance at the monkey. It didn't move.

"Ah, I believe I've heard stories of your kind before," Colman said. "Some are good while others are bad."

"I'm not surprised," Sanji said.

"I'm ready," Colman said once everything was out on the counters.

Sanji stood beside Colman as the bird started mixing ingredients together. His stomach spun like one of his love tornados when Colman dumped a cup of live grubs into the sheering hot pan. A hissing came from the pan. He wasn't sure if it was just because live bugs were being cooked _alive_ or if it the bugs were screaming out in pain. After all he was in a world where birds could talk. So it would make sense if other things could as well. He tried to force it out of his mind while he listened to Colman instruct him on how to know when the bugs were ready for the next step.

"Once their insides ooze out and their skin is a nice golden brown, you add in a two thirds cup of dirt and two cups of water," Colman said, pouring in the items when it was ready.

Sanji's stomach lurched at the sight before him. It turned into a brownish green mess while the bird stirred it. He had no idea if he was going to be able to survive these two weeks or not. At the very least, he was happy that Neo wasn't here to witness this. He knew she wouldn't be able to handle it at all. He felt like tossing his cookies and he wasn't even pregnant. With a deep breath he willed all of his professionalism to take over in hopes it would help him survive this.

…

After several hours of trying to sleep, Neo gave up. She adjusted her pillow, sat up, and just stared down at Law's hat and ring. She had no idea what time it was since there was no real moon to judge the time by and the only clock around had numbers on it that she couldn't read. Still, with her mind wherever her lover and friends were, time passed surprisingly fast for her. Before she knew it, the sprites were up and giving her concerned looks. Or at least Velocity and Elian were. Celeste was too busy trying to get herself to fully wake up as she rolled around on the pillow and rubbed her eyes.

"Princess, did you manage to get any sleep at all last night?" Velocity asked.

"Not really," Neo said. "But it doesn't matter. I'll nap through the day. Stress always causes me to sleep. Though I'm not sure how it will affect me now since I'm not around my family. I might not sleep until I'm back with them."

"Well, that's not going to be good," Elian said.

"Yeah." Neo nodded.

"I hungry," Celeste said, sleepily. "I need food."

"Breakfast does sound lovely," Velocity said, clapping her hands together before addressing Neo. "Why don't you get ready for the day and we'll go on down to the kitchen and get breakfast started?"  
"Yeah." Neo nodded again. She waited until the sprites flew out of the room before making a move towards the edge of the bed. She placed her bare feet on the floor. It felt cold today. Or maybe she was the one who was cold. Either way she pushed herself off the bed and made her way over to the bathroom. Once done, she shut the water off and stared at herself in the mirror. She almost didn't recognize herself from her sleepy and drained expression. "Come on, Neo. You can hold it together. You might be alone right now but it's only for a short amount of time. They _will_ come back to you. You know they are strong and can handle themselves just fine. You can do this. You can handle this. Law raised you to be able to handle yourself. Okay?"

She nodded despite not feeling much better after her little pep talk. She then left the bathroom and the bedroom. Wondering down the stairs, she wondered if they had a library. Reading would be a good way to keep her mind occupied with something other than worrying. The quietness of the house was soon over taken by the clattering of dishes and the spites gripping at Celeste for one thing or another.

"Celeste! Don't eat that!" Velocity said.

"If you're not going to help, then go sit somewhere else!" Elian said.

"Making breakfast! Making breakfast! I'm helping making breakfast!" Celesta sang just as Neo entered into the kitchen. The little orange sprite was sitting on a spatula and flying around the room with it.

"That's not helping at all!" the twins shouted.

Neo couldn't help but giggle at the sight before her. Her bells rang out into the room, stopping the sprites in their tracks.

Celesta gasped then few over to Neo. "Pretty laughter! Bells rang! Bells rang!"

"Hey, you actually laughed. And your laughter is very pretty," Velocity said.

"Sorry," Neo said. "It just, you three reminded me of Shachi, Penguin, and Luffy just now. Luffy's a real goofball at times and Shachi and Penguin often yell at him like you two did with Celeste."

"I see." Velocity nodded. "Well, I'm glad we at least made you smile once."

"I never heard of someone having bells in their laughter," Elian said.

"I guess I forgot to mention that when I told you about myself yesterday," Neo said, sitting down at the table. "It's also part of my royal heritage."

"You're just full of surprises," Velocity said as she turned back to whatever she was cooking on the stove.

"I guess so," Neo said. "So do you all have a library here?"  
"Yeah, we have one," Elian said. "But you won't be able to read the books we have."

"Why not?" Neo asked.

"They're written in an ancient Time Language of the Time Keepers," Elian said. "It's only read here in the Time Stream. No one from your world can read it without learning it. But it's not an easy language to read if you're not born in the Time Stream."

"Time Keepers?" Neo questioned as she continued to fiddle with Law's hat and ring.

"Empress Futura and her royal guards are Time Keepers. Pendulum is also a Time Keeper, but obviously has gone rogue," Elian explained. "They guard the flow of time to make sure nothing happens to it. It's a very delicate string that needs to be protected."

"I'm not sure I really understand what you're saying," Neo said. "I get the whole protecting thing, but the Time Stream I don't get."

"Hey, don't worry," Velocity said. "It's not easy for a lot of people to understand."

"I guess so." Neo lifted her eyes to the girl.

"Well, breakfast is ready anyway," Velocity said, placing a plate of something down on the table that reminded Neo of pancakes then a bowl of something that reminded her of oatmeal.

"Thank you," Neo said, picking up her fork. She cut off a bite of the pancake looking thing and placed it in her mouth. She found she couldn't really taste anything. It was the same with the oatmeal stuff. Her mouth seemed to have lost its sense of taste. She sighed inwardly as the sprites chatted happily with each other. Being strong was going to be harder than she thought it would be.

After she forced herself to eat at least one of the pancakes like thing and half of the oatmeal like stuff, Neo stood up and followed the sprites back into the living room. She felt guilty for leaving food behind, but she couldn't bring herself to finish it. She forced her mind off of it when they lead her over to one of the other doors and opened it. Her heart leaped with joy upon seeing the wall to wall and floor to ceiling books in the place. But then the joy quickly left upon remembering she wasn't going to be able to read any of them herself.

"So what type of books do you like?" Velocity asked. "Romance? I'm quite fond of those."

"I'll say," Elian said as he landed on the arm of one of the two high back chairs in the room. "She's a hopeless romantic. So she's really into the prince saving the princess."

"I'm not that bad!" Velocity snapped.

"You are too," Elian replied. "You're all the time getting lost in your romance books. You don't even notice the silly looks that you get on your face while reading them."

"Oh, you just hush," Velocity said, her cheeks tinting a purplish color.

"I really like anything," Neo said as she wondered if the girl's purplish tint was her way of blushing. After all red and blue did make purple when mixed together. She brushed it aside when Velocity flew up to the books and scanned her eyes over them.

"Sit! Sit! Sit!" Celesta said while doing cartwheels in the air.

Neo walked over to the other high back chair and sat down in it. She waited patiently for Velocity to pick out a book. When the spite did, she used her magic to pull the book off the shelf then laid it down in the chair where her brother was.

"I just love this book. I've literally read it over a hundred times," Velocity said, flipping open the book while Elian clicked on the reading lamp. "Are you ready, Princess?"

"You don't have to call me princess," Neo said, running her hand over Law's hat. "I'm not really use to being called that anyway."

"Apologies," Velocity replied. "It's our customs to address those with a title by their titles. It's mostly a habit, but also respect. Even those who are best friends with those of titles call them by their titles instead of their names."

"Very well then. If you wish to call me princess then feel free to do so," Neo said. She gave Velocity a go ahead nod then settled down in her chair while listening to her sprite friend read. They weren't very far into the book when she started noticing quite a few similarities between the main character's story line and her own life. The main character was rescued by a young prince who took her to live with him in his kingdom. Just as the two characters reached the prince's kingdom, she felt her eyelids grow heavy. She tried to stay awake and listen to the story, but gave in to her drowsiness and fell asleep.

…

 **Apple Bloom: I know what you mean. She's an easy character to feel for. So sweet and all.**


	11. Into the Domes P4

Into the Domes

Part Four

Luffy continued to eye the monkey long after Pendulum's image faded away from them. He eyed it from all possible directions. "Hey, where did that guy go? And where was Neo?" He poked it with his finger. "Come on. Hey, Fish Guy, you come back here. I want to know where all my friends are."

Shachi clenched his fists. They were in an even bigger mess that he thought they were. And now he knew for sure that Neo was alone. She was basically that man's hostage and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Well, there wasn't exactly nothing. All they had to do was find the shard and they would be reunited with Neo. It couldn't be all that hard to do that. He wiped the sweat gathering on his forehead and looked a Luffy. Fear gripped his very soul upon remembering who he was paired up here with. "Just great. I'm going to die out here."

"Come on," Luffy said, still poking the monkey. "Come back and talk to us some more. Where is everyone? Are they okay? Did you hurt them?"

"This is just great," Shachi said as he scanned out into the desert as far as he could see again. "That guy said we were prepared to handle this place but we're no where near being able to handle the desert. He had to have lied to us. How are we even going to find that shard? If it's in the sand it could take years to find it. Neo won't be happy about that. I already know she's not happy. And neither is the captain and Penguin. I know they're just going to be boiling with fury over this."

"Hey, Heart Pirate guy," Luffy called.

"My name is Shachi. How could you not know that by now?" Shachi turned to find Luffy was now pointing at the monkey instead of poking it. And the monkey was showing them some kind of image of a map.

"This monkey has some kind of map," Luffy said. "And there are four dots on the thing as well. Do you think those dots are us?"

Shachi rushed over to them. Kneeling down he took in the map. "It's possible that they are us. I mean, why else would this thing show us these dots."

"So which one do you think I am?" Luffy asked. "Do you think that I'm this one dot over here that's all by itself?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Straw Hat," Shachi said. "Why in the world would you be that one dot all by yourself when it makes much more sense that the three dots clustered together represents us?"

"I don't know," Luffy said. "It just looks more manly I think. And I'm going to be the King of the Pirates one day."

"No, Straw Hat, that single dot isn't you," Shachi said with a sigh. "I'm pretty sure the single dot is the shard we're looking for."

"That's great! We already found it!" Luffy cheered. "Let's go grab it and get to Neo!"

"No!" Shachi grabbed the back of Luffy's vest before the young pirate could run out into the hot desert. "Don't be stupid, Straw Hat! We have no idea where the shard actually is!"

"Huh?" Luffy looked over his shoulder before he quit running. "What do you mean? The shard's right there."

"Think for a moment, Straw Hat," Shachi said, pointing at the map. "Inches on a map could mean miles out here in the desert. And I'm not sure was these strange markings are that are on the map. It would be words or something else important."

"So just read them," Luffy said.

"I said I can't!" Shachi snapped.

"Then let's just go then! We're going to get nowhere sitting around here!" Luffy snatched the monkey off the ground and ran off into the direction of the shard.

"Hold on, Straw Hat!" Shachi called. He desperately grabbed for Luffy's vest again, but it was too late. He didn't move fast enough and Luffy was already several yards away from him. With no other choice, he jumped to his feet and quickly followed after the younger man. "Straw Hat! This is insane! We can't just dash out into the desert like this!"

"Huh? Why not?" Luffy called back from over his shoulder.

"We don't know what's out there! We don't even know where we are!" Shachi pointed out. "And most importantly we don't have any water or clothes that will suit the desert!"

"Who cares? The shard is right there! Look! We're getting closer and closer to it as we run!" Luffy said, showing Shachi the map.

"What?" Shachi picked up his pace. Running beside Luffy, he looked at the shard. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It really did look like they were getting closer to the shard. "Can we really get it that easily?"  
"Of course we can!" Luffy grinned. "We'll get it and be back with Neo in no time at all!"

"I hope your correct about that, Straw Hat," Shachi said. He glanced back over his shoulder to see their only source of shade fading away. He hoped they continued to run in a straight line. That way they would be able to get back to the shade. Reluctantly, he pulled his eyes off the rock formation and focused on keeping up with Luffy. He had no idea how long they had actually ran, but between the burning feeling in his legs from running over the sand and the burning sun beating down on his body, he wanted to just lay down and die right there. Feeling the sun already burning his skin, he pulled his boiler suit back up around him and zipped it up.

"Hey! There it is!" Luffy then called out.

"Huh?" Shachi looked a head of them to see something sticking out of the sand. He blinked several times, thinking it was nothing but a mirage. "No way. Is it really?"  
"It sure is!" Luffy held up the monkey where the Heart Pirate could see the map. All four of the dots were now practically sitting on top of each other.

"You know, Straw Hat, when something seems this easy usually it's not easy at all," Shachi stated as they slowed down to a walk. A few steps later, they were only about five yards from their target, which hadn't disappeared yet. He was still skeptical. This could still be a mirage after all. And they could just be hallucinating when it came to the map.

"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked as he started to walk closer to the shard. "The shard's right here. All we have to do is grab it and we can go." He reached for the shard, but it quickly moved away from him before his fingers could touch it. "Huh?"

"Did it just move?" Shachi asked while he and Luffy watched the shard move several yards away from them before coming to a stop. "That's not normal. We have to be seeing things. I told you that we shouldn't have came out here."

"Hey! You come back here!" Luffy protested as he got up to go after it. The sand crunched underneath his footsteps as he moved closer to the shard. And just like the first time, just as he reached out to grab it the shard moved away from him. "Come back here!" He growled in frustration before he ran after it again. This time, when he got a few yards behind it, he dove after right for it. The shard skirted to the left, causing the Straw Hat captain to hit the ground and end up with a mouth full of sand. He pulled his face out of the hot sand, spitting as much of it out of his mouth as he could. "Gross! It's disgusting! And so hot!"

"Well, what do you expect? We are in the middle of a desert," Shachi said.

"I'm going to get you!" Luffy jumped up and took after the shard again.

"Will you calm down, Straw Hat? You're pulling us farther and farther away from the only shade we have," Shachi said in a useless attempt to try to caution Luffy, but the captain wasn't listening to him. Luffy just kept trying to grab the shard. And this kept pulling them farther and farther away from their only landmark and source of shade.

"Gum Gum Gatling!" Luffy cried out. He punched the sand several times only succeeding in kicking up sand in their faces.

Shachi coughed in a desperate attempt to get the sand out of his mouth. "Straw Hat! What the heck were you trying to accomplish by doing that?!"

"I'm trying to get the shard for us! What do you think I'm doing?!" Luffy demanded.

"You're just making a bigger mess of things!" Shachi snapped. "Will you just calm down and think for a moment?!"

"I can't calm down!" Luffy said. "I want to get back to Neo! Don't you want that too?!

"Of course I do, Straw Hat!" Shachi said. "I'm just as worried about her as you are! But running around like this is just crazy! You're clearly not getting anywhere doing what you are! So just stop and think for a minute!"

"I won't stop! Not until we're back with Neo!" Luffy spun around. He charged back at the sharp, throwing everything he had at it. Fifteen minutes later, he plopped down in the sand and panted desperately for water. "I need water."

"This is just great. That rock formation is no longer in sight," Shachi pointed out. "You completely moved us away from that thing. If we don't figure out something soon, we're done for."

"I just don't get it. Why can't I grab that thing? It's just right there," Luffy whined. He stared at the unreachable shard that was literally in arms length of him. But even if he reached out to grab it, he knew it would only move away again. The suddenly, without any kind of warning, the sand around the shard started to change color. The golden sand became light green with several purple spots of all sizes over its body. "Huh? Is that…a lizard?"

"Well, I guess that explains why you couldn't catch it at all," Shachi said, wiping sweat from his chin. "Should have known it was some kind of animal or something. It's an inanimate object after all. Those can't move on their own no matter what."

"Hm." Luffy hummed to himself as he stared at the lizard's face. Something about it seemed off to him. "Is it just me…or does that thing have a smug expression on his face?"

Shachi looked at Luffy, thinking the sun had finally fried the young captain's brain, before turning his attention to the lizard. He examined the lizard's face for a while, wondering if it was at all possible for the thing to look smug at all. And sure enough, the lizard _did_ have a smug look on its scaly face. "You have got to be kidding me. Don't tell me that thing has been messing with us this whole time."

As if answering the man's question, the lizard's tongue slid out from around the shard and wiggled at the two pirates like it was taunting them.

Luffy roared as he jumped to his feet. "You stupid lizard! Give me that shard right this second!"

"Straw Hat! Stop doing that!" Shachi jumped up and followed once again. "You're going to get us killed out here! Straw Hat!"

"Give it to me!" Luffy ignored Shachi and lunged at the lizard. Again and again the Straw Hat captain dove after, attempted to hit or kick the lizard, but only succeeded in pulling them farther and farther into the desert. And every chance it got, the lizard kept turning to look at them, still wearing the smug look. Occasionally, it would stick its tongue out at them or shake its tail to add to its taunting. "I'm going to barbecue you!" Luffy charged at the lizard one more time. A smile spread across his face when it looked like he was going to get it this time. However, just before his hand could collapse around the lizard's neck, the creature burrowed into the sand and disappeared. He dropped to the ground, shook off the sand, and then looked up. "What?! It's gone! It went under the sand! How do we find it now?! What do we do?! What do we do?!"

"Calm down, Straw Hat. We still have the monkey with us," Shachi pointed out. "We can easily track it.

"Oh, right." Luffy turned his attention to the quiet machine with them. Stretching out his arm, he grabbed it and pulled it to his face. "Hey, Fish guy! Help us out here! Come on! Do something! Tell us where that lizard went? Hey! You weird little fish lion guy! You know, the one who was talking to us before?! You said you could hear us! So come back out here and tell us where that lizard went! Hey! I want to talk to you! Are you listening to me?!"

"I don't think that's going to work. We have to do this ourselves, remember?" Shachi said. "It's the monkey that can track the lizard not Pendulum. So we'll find it again. What we really need to find right now is water and shelter."

"And where are we going to find that?" Luffy asked so casually. "We're in a desert."

"Well, we _had_ shelter until _you_ ran off like a mad man!" Shachi screeched.

"Then let's go back," Luffy replied, picking his nose.

"Are you kidding me?! We lost sight of that rock long ago! There's no possible way we can figure out which way it is now! If you had just waited we could have gotten our bearings down before rushing out here! Then we could have found our way back! Or at least tried to figure out a plan of some kind before running out here! Didn't you say that you and your crew went to the Alabasta Kingdom before?!"

"Of course we did," Luffy said. "What about it?"

"Don't you remember what happened there?!" Shachi asked.

"Oh, yeah. I remember," Luffy said. "It was really hot there. Kind of like it is here. Come to think of it, being in the desert there really sucked."

"Of course it does! How could you have forgotten that?!" Shachi demanded.

"I don't know. But there's no point in worrying about that now." Luffy put his hands behind his head. "Come on. Let's just find some water and shade."

"You've got to be kidding! How does your crew put up with you?! We're in the middle of the desert! I just said that!" Shachi screamed. "We have no idea which way to go to find water and shade!

"Right." Luffy smiled. "So which way do we go?"

"Ah!" Shachi crashed to the ground at that point, rivers of tears flowing from his eyes. "That's it. I'm dead. Captain, Neo, Penguin, and the rest of our beloved Heart Pirates crew, I'm so sorry. But it looks like I'm not going to make it back to you all. I had so much fun traveling with you all. Neo, little sister, be strong. I know the pain of losing me will be great, but you will over come it. Take care of the baby. Sorry I don't get to meet the little one."

"You're very funny. No wonder Neo likes you so much." Luffy laughed. "We're not going to die out here. We'll find water and then we'll find that lizard and we'll get the shard and everything will be fine. Trust me. This is going to be fun."

"You're an idiot." Shachi glared at the rubber man. "That's all there is to it."

…

"Hot," Luffy huffed an hour later while he and Shachi continued to truck slowly through the scorching sun and sand. "So…hot. Need…water…"

"Will you stop complaining about needing water?" Shachi asked. He wanted to snap the rubber man's head off both with his hands and his words, but was too tired to do either as they continued to trudge through the hot sand.

"But I'm so thirsty," Luffy said, his mouth and lips feeling like sand. "I can't take this much longer. Can't we stop now?"

"No," Shachi said despite his burning calves. His body was also begging him to sit down and rest. But he knew they couldn't. They had to keep going. They had to find away out of this.

"Why did that guy tell us we had everything we needed to survive this when we don't?" Luffy asked before crashing to the ground. "I can't go on anymore."

"Straw Hat," Shachi said, dropping to his knees. "You can't stop now. We have to keep going."

"I can't," Luffy whined. "Just let me sleep for a while."

"You can't do that, Straw Hat," Shachi said.

"Wow. Look at the pretty little doggies," Luffy said. "There's so many of them."

"What are you talking about? There are no dogs out here. There's just…" Shachi looked up. His voice faded away when he saw what Luffy was seeing. There were several black things, shaped like dogs walking towards them. He sighed heavily. "So this is really it. We're both seeing things. And we're both on the verge of dying out here." He fell forward. The hot sand burned against his cheek, but he didn't care. He didn't have the strength or the will power to move anymore. "Neo…I'm sorry."

"Hey, are you okay?" a soft voice asked. "Well, that was a stupid question. Of course you're not okay. "Arista! Hurry! Bring the water and the…"

The girl's words garbled up and faded away from Shachi's ears as his eyes closed.

…

 _"Neo…I'm sorry."_

Neo gasped and shot up. Grabbing her head, her shoulders heaved as she desperately drew air into her lungs. Her mouth bobbed open and closed but no words would come out at all. She felt like her heart and lungs had one of Zoro's oversized weights sitting on them while going through a magic outage.

"Princess, what's wrong?" Velocity asked, looking up from her book.

Elian took to the air. Landing on Neo's shoulder, he reached underneath her hair and rubbed her neck. "There, there. Easy. Just take slow, deep breaths. It's going to be fine."

"Pretty Princess sad," Celeste said, flying over to Neo. She placed her hands on Neo's forehead then kissed her. "No be sad."

"Shachi…Luffy," Neo squeaked.

"Those are two of your friends," Velocity said.

"They're…trouble," Neo said. "Have to…" She stood up. "…get to them."

"Princess, you know that's not possible," Velocity said, hovering in front of Neo's face.

"But…I have to," Neo said, hot tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. "They're in trouble."

"Princess, I know it's hard for you, but you must-" Elian stopped talking when the pressure in the room changed. He and Velocity quickly grabbed Celeste and ducked behind the chair Neo was sitting in.

"I see you're making yourself right at home," Pendulum said once he materialized in the room. His eyes went right down to the book Velocity was reading from. "Seeing as how you're not familiar with the Time Language, I see the Time Sprites are keeping you in good company." He walked over and picked up the book. He snarled at it when he glanced at the words. "Romance novels. Such a waste of good talent and pages."

Neo narrowed her eyes at the man, barely registering the strange silver monocle that blocked his right eye from her. She started to summon her crystals but stopped when his words came flooding back to her mind. If she behaved she would be able to see Law. While she wanted to see him, she hated that she couldn't outright attack this man. Or at least attempt an attack. She might not get anywhere with his ability to freeze her attacks in place. Swallowing her desires to attack, she said, "Please, you have to let me go to Shachi and Luffy. They're in trouble. They need me."

"They don't need you at all," Pendulum said, letting the book drop to the floor with a thump. He placed his hands behind his back and started pacing the room. His eyes ran over the books while he continued to speak. "I already told you that they have everything they need."

"If they had everything they needed then they wouldn't be in trouble," Neo said.

"They are not in trouble." Pendulum turned to her with an expression that suggested that was the most ridiculous things he had ever heard. "I assure you that all of your friends are safe."

"And how do you know that?" Neo asked.

"I am keeping an eye on their progress," Pendulum said.

"You can…you can see them?" Neo asked.

"I can." Pendulum nodded.

"Then let me see them!" Neo pleaded, guessing that's what the monocle was for. "I'm begging you! Just let me see them!"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that," Pendulum said. "It would be in the best interest of you all if I kept you separate for now."

Neo clenched her hands at her side. Her body shook with tremors. _Is this guy purposefully torturing me? He has a way to see my family yet he won't let me see them. I hate this. I hate this so much._

"And remember, I told you that if you're a good girl I'll let you see your precious lover," Pendulum said.

"But when?" Neo whispered.

"In a few days, I suppose," Pendulum said. "You've already made it well through your first day and are already into your second day."

"We're into our second day?" Neo asked.

"No, only you are," Pendulum said. "The Time Domes are all on their own time. Some have shorter days than others while some have longer days than others. That means everyone is in a different time zone. Here it's morning. On other Time Domes its still nighttime. Some are in the early evening, some in the late evening two days from our today, some midmorning tomorrow from our time, some in the afternoon of two days from our time, and so on and so forth."

"And you're positive they're all safe?" Neo asked, despite being unsure if this guy would really tell her the truth.

"Yes, they are safe. I give you my word," Pendulum said. "And I know you don't trust me, but you can. Because I know you can sense when someone you _love_ is in danger. How are you feeling about them right now?"  
Neo dropped her eyes to the floor. She cringed when he said she could trust him. She didn't at all. But he was correct about one thing. She was feeling a lot better about Shachi and Luffy. Her chest wasn't as tight anymore and her breathing had become a lot easier.

"I see you're feeling better now," Pendulum said, sitting down in the chair. "Why don't we talk for a while?"  
"I'd rather not," Neo said, sitting down herself.

"Don't be rude, _Princess_ ," Pendulum said. "You don't want to be a bad representation of your people, now do you?"

"My people would hang you for what you have done to me and my family," Neo said, her voice taking on her royal tone. She held her head high and folded her hands in her lap. "Not to mention what my godfather would do you to."

"Your godfather?" Pendulum asked. "And who might that be?"

Neo forced herself to keep her expression empty. _That's odd. He knows about my crews and me but he doesn't know about my godfather? Was he just not watching us doing those times when we saw him or spoke about him? I wish I could pull my godfather here. Pendulum wouldn't know what hit him._

"I thought you were watching us," Neo said. "If you were really then you should have seen him at some point."

Pendulum frowned. "I might have been watching you for a while but that doesn't mean I watched you ever second of everyday."

"So when exactly did you start watching us?" Neo asked. "Was it when I first became a pirate? Some time after that? Some time before it? Or was it after I learned about my heritage?"

"These are all unimportant questions." Pendulum propped his elbow upon the armrest and leaned his cheek on his fist. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me," Neo said. "Have you been watching me and Law have sex?"  
"Do you really believe that's an appropriate question for a princess to ask?" Pendulum frowned.

"Do you think it's an appropriate thing to spy on us?" Neo shot back. "And I maybe a princess but I am first and foremost a pirate. What did you think would happen? Did you think that we all would roll over for you? You might have control right now, but that won't last long. And I guarantee that if you weren't hanging the lives of my crews over my head I would unleash the worst storm on you that you have ever seen. So _you_ better watch it. If _any_ one of them ends up with a single, solitary scratch on them I'm holding you personally responsible and you _will_ pay for it."

She sat back in her chair. She kept her eyes locked onto Pendulum. His expression was unreadable to her. She wished she were better at reading people. If Law or Sanji were here they would have a better chance of figuring out what this man was thinking. She didn't have a clue. And it scared her. Despite her calm outward appearance, she was trembling on the inside. She had openly spoken, and threatened, this man. That could have been a huge mistake.

"Not bad, Princess," Pendulum said after a long and tense pause. "I really didn't think you would have the courage to say something like that to me. I'm impressed. I believe we're going to get along just fine. Now, if you will excuse me. I have some things to attend to."

Neo sighed and sunk into her chair when the man disappeared from the room. Now that he was gone, she felt extremely dizzy.

"Wow," Velocity exclaimed as she and the other sprites came out of hiding. "I honestly didn't think you had that in you."

"I didn't either." Neo panted.

"Are you feeling okay?" Elian said. "You look a little pale."

"I…I think I'm going to be sick," Neo said.

"Uh oh!" Celeste cried. "No sick! No sick!"

"Hurry then. Come this way, Princess," Velocity said. She took Neo's finger in her tiny hand and led her out of the room and into the bathroom next door.

Everything from breakfast came rushing back for a second appearance. She heaved for a couple minutes before finally having nothing left to give. Gasping for air, she pulled back and slumped against the wall. "In all honest…I didn't think I had it in me to stand up to him either."

"Well, I think he knows you're not a push over now," Velocity said. "I think you took him by surprise. I bet he'll make sure nothing bad happens to your family now."

"I hope so." Neo nodded.

"Are you feeling better now?" Elian asked.

"Yes." Neo nodded again. "I'm sorry about wasting all that food."

"Don't worry about it," Velocity said. "This kinda thing just happens."

"Pretty Princess okay!" Celeste cheered. "Pretty Princess okay!"

Neo held up her hand for the little orange sprite to land in her palm. She smiled with Celeste pulled up her leg and stuck her foot in her mouth to suck on it. "You're so silly."

Celeste just smiled.

"Would you like something to eat or drink now?" Elian asked.

"Maybe something to drink that will settle my nerves," Neo said. "I'll try to eat something later."

"I'll make you something right away," Elian said before flying out of the room.

"Would you like me to finish the book for you?" Velocity asked. "Or would you like to do something else?"

"I think I'd like to finish the book," Neo said. "Sorry about falling asleep before."

"No apologies needed, Princess," Velocity said.

Neo, with Celeste still in her hand, stood up, rinsed her mouth, and walked out of the bathroom with the two sprites. They made their way back into the library and reclaimed their chairs. She growled lightly in memory of Pendulum dropping the book on the floor. "He really didn't have to treat that book with such disrespect."

"If I had the power to flatten him I would have!" Velocity said, dusting off the book's cover. "Dissing romances like that! He's clearly never known the power of love! The jerk!"

"Jerk! Jerk! The jerk!" Celeste said.

"You're just over consumed by romances," Elian said, entering the room with a steaming hot cup of the spearmint drink she had before. "You won't have had that reaction if it was any other book."

"I would not have," Velocity scoffed. "I love all books."

"All books with romance in them," Elian said.

"Boys!" Velocity quipped.

"Girls!" Elian shot back.

"All right," Neo said, taking the cup from Elian. "I think that'll do for now. We all have our likes and dislikes. Thank you, Elian."

"You're welcome, Princess," Elian said. "And you're correct."

"Yeah, you are," Velocity said. She settled back into the chair and reopened the book. She flipped through the pages until she found where she had left off and started reading again.

Neo sat back in her chair. Holding the hot liquid up to her face as the steam and scent washed over her. Just the smell of it had already relaxed her a lot. And she felt a lot better now. She was glad she no longer felt like Shachi and Luffy were in trouble. She just hoped whatever happened to them that it was being taken care of by someone they could trust.

…

 _"Shachi! Hey, Shachi!"_

 _"Huh?" Shachi opened his eyes to Neo's voice calling out to him. He saw she was just down the beach from where he was bathing in the sun. He propped himself up on his elbows. "What's up?"  
"Come on! Stop sitting around doing nothing there and come play with me!" Neo called out to him._

 _"Yeah!" Penguin said as he appeared beside Neo. "Get off your butt and have some fun for a change!"_

 _"I don't feel like it," Shachi said, lying back down on his towel which was oddly soft from what he remembered it being. "I'm really hot and tired right now. I just want to rest for a while."_

 _"Well, if you're really that hot," Neo said._

 _"Huh?" Shachi lifted back up just in time to get a cold splash of water on his face. "Neo!"_

 _Neo laughed, her bells ringing out in the world around him as she continued to splash cold water at him._

 _"Neo," Shachi said, his heart aching painfully upon hearing her bells. "I'll never hear you laugh again. I think I'll miss that most of all. I wonder what you're doing right this second. Are you sleeping? Are you having a nightmare about me dying? I'm sorry. I'm probably scaring you so much right now."_

"Don't worry," a slightly familiar voice said. "You're not going to die. I haven't lost a patient yet."

"Huh?" Shachi opened his eyes to blurriness of a bright light. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before reopening his eyes. With his vision clearer now, he stared up into the face of a beautiful dark skinned and dark haired woman with deep green eyes.

"It looks like you're waking up now," the woman said with a bright smile.

"No, I can't be waking up. If I am then I'm waking up in heaven," Shachi said, blushing. "Or are you the angel who's taking me to heaven? Or hell? At the moment I really don't care where you're taking me as long as I can stay with you."

The woman laughed. "I think you are going to be all right. You and your friend are quiet dehydrated, but we found you soon enough so there's going to be no permanent damage or anything."

"Where are we?" Shachi asked as he sat up to find he was in a hospital gown with an IV stuck in his hand. "What's going on?"

"You're in Papina Hospice." The woman smiled while flipping through a chart. "I'm Sela. Can you tell me why you were out in the desert without the proper gear? You and your friend almost died, you know?"

"Yeah, I know that," Shachi said. "It wasn't our intention to be out there. We were dro-" He stopped talking when he felt something land on his legs. Lifting his head up, he saw the monkey was staring right at him. _Oh, yeah. I had almost forgotten about the rules._ He laid back down with a tired sigh. "We got a bit lost from the rest of our friends. They…have all of our supplies."

"I see," Sela said. She turned back to the pirate. "So is that why you kept calling out the name Neo in your sleep?"

"I was talking in my sleep?" Shachi asked.

"You were." Sela nodded. "You kept calling out that name and mumbling something about being sorry about something or other. Is Neo a friend?"

"She's actually my sister," Shachi said. "She worries a lot about our cre-uh-family. She just really hates it when we're separated from her and she has no idea how we're doing. She's really not going to be happy that we almost died out there."

"Yeah," Sela said. "I bet. Just try not to do that again.

"Wait. Where's my friend? The guy that I was with out in the desert?" Shachi asked as he looked around for the missing pirate.

"He's right here in the next bed," Sela replied.

Shachi watched as the woman walked around the bed and pulled back a curtain. Luffy was laying in the bed but didn't look like he was doing all that well. "Is he going to be fine?"

"He was a bit more dehydrated than you were, but he'll be just fine," Sela said. "Maybe you could answer another question for me."

"About what?" Shachi asked.

"You friend here was also talking in his sleep," Sela said. "He kept saying he was going to be barbecuing a lizard. He wasn't talking about the green and purple spotted lizards out in the desert, was he?"  
"Yeah, how did you know?" Shachi asked

"Everyone around here knows about those lizards. And everyone around here, whether they live here or are just passing through, has had something taken by those things," Sela said. "Whatever they took from you two forget about getting it back. It's not possible."

"What?! No!" Shachi shouted and tried to get up from the bed. "I can't do that! I have to get that back! I _need_ it back!

"Calm down." Sela placed her hands on his shoulders. "I'm sorry you lost whatever you lost. But you need to rest."

"No, you don't understand! I _have_ to get that thing back!" Shachi pushed against her hold but he was still too weak from their trip in the desert that he couldn't push her away from him.

"Please, sir, you need to calm down. If you don't I'll have to sedate you." Sela looked over at door where a male companion was walking by. Upon hearing her words, he walked into the door and started going through a box of medical supplies.

"No, no! I'll calm down!" Shachi laid back down when the man pulled out a needle.

"Good," Sela said. She nodded to the man, telling him he could leave, then turned back to her patient. "I hope we'll have no more outbursts like that."

"I'll rest for now, but I have to find that thing. But we have to get back out there and find that lizard," Shachi said. He glanced back down at the monkey. It was still standing on his bed. _Stupid, moron. Why did you have to put such ridiculous demands on us? This would be a while lot easier if we could just tell people what we're really after_. "Look, it's something very important to me. It's kind of like a map or sorts. It'll lead me back to my sister."

"It'll lead you back to your sister?" Sela asked.

"Yeah." Shachi nodded. "So it's very, very important that I find that lizard."

"Oh, I see. So that's why you're so desperate in getting that thing. I hate to tell you this, but no one has ever been successful in capturing one of those creatures when they have taken something," Sela said softly. "A few people have even died in trying to regain their stolen property."

"Please!" Shachi begged. "You don't understand how important it is! We _have_ to find it! We'll be okay! We're use to handling extreme environments! All we need is the proper equipment! Please?! My sister is just a child still!" _Well, that still partly true_. "She'll be very scared that we're not with her! Please, I'm begging you! Just tell me all you know about them and where we can get the proper equipment to deal with the desert!"

Sela sighed. "Fine. But I still think you're insane for wanting to go after those creatures. However, I can see that you're really desperate to get back to you little sister. Those creatures live under the desert. They have an entire cave system down there. And it's rumored that there's also an oasis where they live."

"An oasis underground?" Shachi asked. "How is that possible?"

"No one knows. If anyone has ever found one of their tunnels that supposedly leads down to this oasis, we'll never know. Some have said you can find their holes around a single rock formation just two miles outside of the city here. That's close to where we found you," Sela said. "It's really easy to find. It's the only rock formation for miles around here."

"Two miles? We were just two miles outside of the city?" Shachi asked. He couldn't believe it. They were that close to civilization and they never knew it. He ran his hands over his face in frustration. If they got out of this alive, again, he was going to kill Luffy.

"That rock is one of the lizards favorite sunning places. The greatest chance you have to finding one of their holes, which is buried underneath the sand, would be in that area," Sela said. "The holes are said to be very deep under the sand so you'll need to have a lifeline tied to the rock so you can pull yourself back out. You'll also need breather masks for air while digging through the sand."

"Deep under the sand, huh?" Shachi mumbled. "Its too bad Neo isn't here. She'd be able to find the holes easily. Heck, she'd be able to charm the shard out of the lizard."

"Charm the lizard?" Sela asked.

Shachi jump. He laughed nervous having forgot the woman was standing right there. He said, "Yeah, she's really good with animals. They love her like she's one of them."

"Well, I'd like to see that," Sela said. "Those creatures really dislike other life forms. They've also been known for taunting people after they've stolen something."

"We noticed," Shachi grumbled.

"I'm still not thrilled with one of my patients wanting to go out there, but my father owns a store that will have the necessary equipment you'll need to help you on your mission." Sela turned and headed for the door.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Shachi smiled. "You have no idea how much this means to us!"

"Sanji!" Luffy shouted out. "I want meat!"

"Oh, yeah, by the way," Shachi said, jerking his thumb towards Luffy. "He's going to have a _huge_ appetite when he wakes up. You better alert your dinning hall to be prepared for that. And he loves meat, a whole lot of meat. He can literally eat tons of that."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do," Sela said with humor lacing her voice. With a wave, she stepped out of the room.

Shachi could tell that the woman didn't believe him in how much Luffy could eat. But it didn't really matter. Once Luffy woke up and started eating she would see that he wasn't joking around. So he laid back in his bed and just stared up at the ceiling. He started going over their situation again. They were only two miles from where the lizards' holes should be. They were going to need supplies that Sela said her father had. So their current problem was paying for the supplies. He knew they weren't going to get them for free. And that brought up two more problems. He didn't have much money on him. Then even if he did he had no clue where they really were. This place probably didn't use they type of currency that they used back home.

Getting a job wouldn't work either. They didn't have time to try and work up to the amount they would need, and surely it was going to be quite a bit. They would need a lot of water after all and a whole lot more food because of Luffy. So that meant they were going to have to either steal all the equipment they needed or they were going to have to steal some money to pay for it all. Thinking about all the equipment they were going to have to use, not to mention the animals they were going to need to take them out into the desert, it would be a lot easier if they just stole some money. That would be easier for them to do rather than trying to steal a bunch of equipment that would probably weight them down. And there were also the animals. They would need to be brought back to the city. If he and Luffy were under ground there would be no way they could do that.

"That wouldn't do at all," Shachi said feeling Neo's harsh glare for even thinking about leaving the animals behind. "Definitely won't do one single bit. We'll just have to have someone take us out there. Stealing money will be a lot easier."

"Sanji, meat," Luffy said about an hour later. He sat up and looked around the room. "Sanji?"

"He's not here, Straw Hat," Shachi said. "Don't you remember what happened?"

"Uh, oh yeah," Luffy said. "We're out in the desert. Since when do deserts have walls?"

"We're no longer in the desert, Straw Hat," Shachi said. "We were found and brought here to this hospice."

"That's good to hear," Luffy said just before his stomach grumbled. He placed his hands over his stomach and whined. "I'm so hungry though. I need food."

"There should be food coming for us soon," Shachi said. "But before that we need to talk."

"About what?" Luffy asked.

"I figured out where that lizard might have gone," Shachi said before telling Luffy about everything the lady doctor had said when she was in the room with them.

"I see," Luffy said. "So all we need is that equipment and we can get the shard."

"Yeah." Shachi nodded. "But first we need to get some money."

"That's Nami's department," Luffy said.

"Well, she's not here. So it's up to us to do it," Shachi said. "How good are you at picking pockets?"  
"I actually kind of stink," Luffy said. "I haven't done it all that much."

"Seriously?" Shachi gave him a doubtful look. "What about all that time you spend with those mountain bandits?"  
"I've been on the sea for over two years. Not exactly many pockets to pick out here," Luffy said.

"You have a good point," Shachi said.

"What about you? Can't you just pick some pockets?" Luffy asked.

Silence fell over the room for several seconds before Shachi sighed heavily. "I'm not good at doing that either."

"Don't worry," Luffy said. "We'll think of something."

"Maybe," Shachi said relaxing against his pillow. "We probably would be able to pick enough from people's pockets anyway. We need to find something bigger like a bank that has poor security or something."

"Do think they have one around here?" Luffy asked.

"They should," Shachi said. "Though we need to figure out what they actually use for money here. Most likely it's not the same as we use."

"We can just ask," Luffy said.

"No! We! Can't!" Shachi snapped. He reeled back. Taking a deep breath, he released it slowly. "Look, Straw Hat, we don't have time to fool around anymore. You need to get serious about this."

"Yeah, I know," Luffy said. "And I will. I promise."

"No more running out into the desert?" Shachi asked.

"No more running out into the desert," Luffy said with a firm nod.

"You give me your word, for Neo's sake, that you'll behave from now on?" Shachi asked.

"Yes! I love Neo! And I want to get back to her as soon as possible!" Luffy said.

"So do I." Shachi nodded.

"Hey." Luffy leaned over closer to Shachi. "I didn't know your eye color was-"

"Knock, knock," Sela said upon entering the room. "I see your friend is finally wake."

Luffy's stomach rumbled loudly.

"And hungry I see," Sela said.

"I'm starving!" Luffy said.

"That's good to hear," Sela said, stepping a side for the man from before to step inside with two trays balanced on his hands. He sat them down without a word and left the room.

"Nice guy," Shachi said, pulling the cover off the tray to reveal unknown substances to him. He sniffed the hot steam coming off of it. Whatever it was smelled kind of beefy.

"He's the strong, silent type," Sela said. "He likes to get in and get out. He's very thorough at his job though."

"That was yummy!" Luffy said, holding out his empty plate. "Could I have some more?"

"Uh…" Sela blinked in disbelief. "Did you even taste the food?"

"Yeah, I did." Luffy nodded. "It was all right. Not as good as Sanji's. And it had a weird flavor to it, but it was good enough."

Shachi chuckled at her expression. "I told you he was a big eater."

"And I need more," Luffy said, his stomach growling again. "I have to be stronger if I'm going to get that lizard."

"Well, normally I wouldn't let patients eat a lot after what you two went through," Sela said.

"What?!" Luffy gasped.

"But since you see to be back to normal already, I'll have more food sent up," Sela said.

"Great!" Luffy cheered. "By the way, what kind of money do you people use here?"

"Ack! Straw Hat!" Shachi snapped.

"Mo-ney?" Sela asked. "What's mo-ney?"

"You know that green stuff you use to buy things with?" Luffy asked.

"Oh, I see. You all are from another sector," Sela said. "We don't use mo-ney here. We use wads."

"Wads?" Luffy and Shachi asked.

"This." Sela pulled a reddish donut shape ring out of her pocket.

"That's so funny looking," Luffy said.

"And how much will all the equipment we need cost?" Shachi said.

"Two hundred thousand wads," Sela said.

"We need two hundred thousand of those things?!" Shachi gasped.

"I'm afraid so," Sela said, stuffing the wad back into her pocket. "Normally, I wouldn't recommend this after what you all have been through, but there is a fighting contest in two days."

"A fighting contest?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah." Sela nodded. "It's very hard though. The current winner has been undefeated for several years now. But if someone wins they get the title and five hundred thousand wads."

"Wow! Really?!" Luffy said. "I'm so going to fight him." His stomach rumbled. "If I get something to eat."

Sela laughed. "You're funny."

"You're really nice telling us about all of that," Luffy said.

"Honestly, I really like watching the fight," Sela said, her cheeks flushing red. "Well, I have other patients to check on. I'll see you boys later."

"Bye." Luffy waved. "She really is nice."

"Yeah." Shachi nodded. "At least now we have a plan. We need to go check out this fighter as soon as we can."

"Great! I'll be the one to fight him!" Luffy said. "All right?"  
"If you're that up for a fight, be my guest," Shachi said. "Just don't die. I don't want Neo to cry anymore than she already has."

"I won't!" Luffy grinned.

…

 **Apple Bloom: Yeah, those little sprites are so much fun to have around.**


	12. Into the Domes P5

Into the Domes

Part Five

"That no good son of a…" Zoro clenched his swords tightly. Anger erupted inside of his chest like multiple volcanoes going off at the same time.

"Neo is going to be one very unhappy Elemental," Franky said.

"I can't believe we're forced to be his slaves!" Zoro said. "The first chance I get I'm cutting him in him half!"

"So this thing is a machine, huh?" Franky said as he stared down at their new companion. "I wonder how it works."

"Who cares about that thing?" Zoro said.

"You should care since this _thing_ is what's going to lead us to the shard and get us back to our friends," Franky said, rubbing his chin.

"Fine. Let's just get this started so we can get the heck out of here. How does this thing work? Do we need to press a button or something?" Zoro said.

Franky picked up the monkey and looked it over from top to bottom. "I don't see any kind of controls on it." He righted the monkey in his hand. "All right, monkey thing, you are supposed to show us where this shard is, so show us where the shard is."

The monkey's eyes lit up and formed a holographic map for them. It showed three dots clustered together before expanding into a larger map, revealing a fourth dot. Franky rubbed his chin while he studied the map in thought. He then pointed at the dots they saw. "These are some very bizarre lines on this map here. I have no idea what they say but I'm going to assume these three dots here represent us and that fourth one over here is the shard. It looks like it might be in that city over there."

"At least we're not too far from it," Zoro said as he walked back to the edge of the cliff. He looked to his left and saw the spot where Franky had told him they might be able to get down from. The ledge was a lot narrower than he thought it was. "Can't you build something to get us down from here?"

"Like what?" Franky said, looking around. "I don't have my tools with me. And all we have around here is trees. We're just going to have to climb down."

"Fine," Zoro said. "But don't complain to me when you fall and break every mechanical bone in your body."

"That won't happen," Franky said. "Let's just go already. The sooner we get to the bottom the sooner we'll get to the shard and back to Neo."

The monkey freed itself from Franky's grip. It sat there, waiting for the pirates to lead the way.

"Yeah, let's go," Zoro said, heading towards the narrow ledge. He placed his foot on the ledge, some rock and dirt crumbled under the pressure. The rocks pinged against the side of the cliff before they ricocheted away. "Oh man. This isn't very solid at all."

"We don't have any other choice," Franky said. "Unless you want to jump."

"This is such a pain," Zoro complained while slowly easing himself onto the ledge. "If it wasn't for Neo, I would be doing this at all."

"I knew you loved her," Franky said, patiently waiting for his turn. "She'll be very happy that you're doing this for her."

"Oh, shut up!" Zoro said, his cheeks flushing red. He moved farther out on the edge. More rocks crumbled from the side but it appeared that it would be fine for them to work their way to the bottom. Staring downwards he saw his boot hung over at least two inches and he found that he was very glad to not be afraid of heights. Still, he couldn't help but be a little nervous from being up this high. He had gotten so use to having Luffy and Neo around to catch him if he ever fell. He never missed them more than he did right now. If he did fall he hoped that he would remain close enough to the cliff to stab his sword into it to slow his fall.

Once Zoro was out about six feet, Franky made his own way onto the ledge. It was more awkward for him to move along the ledge with his big body. His rounded shoulders kept scrapping across the rocks behind him. He had to move a lot slow than Zoro did. Slowly, they inched along with their monkey friend following them quietly and slowly. In about two hours, with their bodies burning from inching along, they had finally gotten close enough to the bottom to jump without obtaining injures.

Zoro was the first to jump. He landed on the ground with a thud and stood up straight. Cracking his neck, he said, "About time. I have no idea how much more of that I could handle."

"No kidding," Franky said just before jumping down himself with the monkey on his shoulder. His landed was a lot harder than Zoro's. He shook the ground and put a small dint into it. "At least we're down now."

"How long do you think it'll take us to walk to the city?" Zoro asked. He stared up at the tallest towers hovering over the treetops. "An hour or two?"

"Possibly," Franky said, scanning over his eyes over the thick forest in front of them. "Maybe even longer considering this forest looks as thick as the one up on the cliff."

"No worries there." Zoro grabbed the hilt of his sword. "I can easily clear things out."

"That's cool, bro. But it's not necessary," Franky said. "There looks like there's a path just over there."

"Hm?" Zoro looked to where Franky was pointing. There was a clearing just thirty yards from them. "Great. It'll be a lot faster that way."

They walked over to the path. Upon entering it they found several strange footsteps pressed into the ground. Some looked like normal human sized shoes while others were a lot larger, and deeper in the ground, and were in all kinds of abnormal shapes.

"Those are some seriously weird footprints! What do you think made those?!" Franky asked. "Do you think it's a shoe fashion around here?"

"Who cares? Let's just get going already," Zoro grumbled as he continued to walk down the path. Their footsteps soon mixed in with the odd sounding bird chirps and whistles. He looked up to find a bird with a long black beak sporting large bright green eyes, silver with blue tipped feathers, with one feather sticking up on top of its head like a cow lick. "That's a strange looking bird."

"You're strange looking," the bird squawked.

"What did you say?!" Zoro pulled out his swords. "Say that again! I dare you!"

"Stupid stranger. Dumb looking stranger," the bird chirped.

"Oh yeah?! Get over here and fight me!" Zoro snapped.

"Strange looking, stupid stranger," the bird said as it flew off.

"Come back here and fight me like a man!" Zoro charged forward to go after the bird.

"Hold on there," Franky said, grabbing Zoro's shoulder to keep him from running off. "I don't have time to let you get lost. We're going straight for the city."

"Not until I kill that bird!" Zoro growled.

"Give it up," Franky said. "That bird is long gone by now."

"Fine!" Zoro said, putting his swords back up. "But I better not see that thing ever again! If I do, I'm going to kill it and then eat it!"

"Sure thing, bro," Franky said before shifting into his tank form. "Come on. We'll get there faster this way."

"Yeah." Zoro jumped upon Franky.

The two pirates fell back into silence after that. The only sound they could hear were the humming of Franky's wheels and the snapping of sticks when they rolled over them. An hour and a half later they finally broke free of the forest. More of the strange machines flew passed them along side some floating yellow markers.

"What's going on?" Zoro asked.

"It looks like they're racing or something," Franky said.

"Racing?" Zoro watched as another group of fliers shot passed them. Bring their attention back to the city, they walked forward and entered it.

"Ow! Now this is my kinda city!" Franky exclaimed when they saw the city was made up of machines. The oil and grease from the maintenance of the gears was thick and fresh in the air.

"Are they robots?" Zoro asked when he saw a dark haired robot's legs expand to twenty feet high. The guy pulled out a rag and started cleaning a window. "Or are they cyborgs?"  
"I don't know," Franky said, eyeing a robot as it changed its shape into multiple objects at the same time. A small group of kids were around the robot laughing harder each time it changed its shape. "This technology is very sophisticated. That one kind of reminds me of a clown."

"I wonder where we are," Zoro said. "So what do we do now?"  
"Look for the shard. Hey, monkey guy, could you-" Franky stopped talking when a loud crash was heard near by. The crash was followed by a very angry voice.

"You stupid piece of junk! I didn't order this!" the voice said. Franky and Zoro turned their attention to a well dressed man at an outdoor restaurant. The man was standing up while another robot was kneeling on the ground trying to pick up the broken dishes and food.

"It's a good thing Sanji isn't here," Franky said. "He would go nuts see how that food was wasted."

Zoro didn't reply. He only kept his gaze on the mess before him, wondering what was going to happen now, while he pressed his thumb to the guard of one of his swords.

"I am so sorry, sir," the robot coward down as it continued to pick up the shattered pieces of the plate. "But, sir, this is what you ordered. I wrote it down on your tick-"

"Silence!" The man kicked the robot in the head, sending it flying backwards into a table. The people scattered as their own dishes crashed to the floor. Oil leaked down the robot's face while it lay there. "How dare you backtalk to me, you inferior piece of junk?! Now look what you've done?! You've broken even more dishes! You are so worthless! You should be dismantled for scrap!"

"Such insolence. My husband is not a man for lying. If he says you brought the wrong dish then you brought the wrong dish." The woman sitting at the table with the man gave the robot a smile that was very condescending. "Is that really so hard for your computer brain to understand? You _cyborgs_ need always remember your place. You're only still alive to work for us."

"Cyborgs? So he's like me then?" Franky questioned as he and Zoro took a closer look at the robot on the ground. That's when they noticed it wasn't a robot at all. It _was_ indeed a cyborg. And the oil they thought was leaking out was actually blood. "Bro, is what's going on here what I thinks going on here? Or am I imagining things?"

"You're not imagining anything." Zoro nodded. He turned away from the cyborg and took a closer look around the city again. Upon a closer inspection he found that all of the robots were also cyborgs. He also noticed that their smiles were fake. They weren't happy at all doing their jobs. In fact, they looked down right miserable. They looked like slaves.

"I am going to submit a report for your insolence!" The man shouted. He brought his leg back in preparation to kick the cyborg again. "You'll pay for this!"

"No! Please, don't hurt him!" A woman came running forward. Her cheeks were red and stained with tears. But, before she could get close enough to do anything, two other guys sitting down jumped up and grabbed her arms. She struggled to get free to no avail. "Stop it! Let me go! He didn't do anything wrong!"

"Why are you protecting that thing?" one of the guys who grabbed her asked. "It's just a machine, not worthy of the space it takes up."

"Die!" The man kicked his foot towards the cyborg.

The woman screamed and closed her eyes.

Zoro rushed forward. Pulling out his sword, be blocked the man's leg with the back of his sword. Smirking, he said, "Big mistake."

"Who the heck are you?" the man asked.

"It's best we don't answer that," Franky said while grabbing the man's foot. "You wouldn't like it anyway."

"Unhand me, you freak! How dare you touch me, you stupid machine?!" the man screamed and tried to free his foot from Franky's solid hold.

Franky was so focused on the man's foot in his hand that he didn't even notice the man spinning around to slam his other foot into his head. He only felt himself flying for several seconds before crashing into the wall of the steel building across the road then crumpled to the ground.

"Now that was a huge mistake." Zoro slammed the back of his sword into the man's noses, breaking it, before placing the tip right up to the man's throat. He heard the woman this man was with scream but didn't bother to look at her. "You're the one who attacked that guy. And for no legitimate reason I might add."

"What are you talking about?! I didn't attack any _guy_ at all! I was putting a _machine_ in its rightful place! Just like you should do with _your_ _cyborg_!" the man snapped, holding his nose while blood dripped down onto his nicely pressed shirt.

"My cyborg? What are you talking about?" Zoro asked. He was unaware of the monkey down by his leg chattering at him in an attempt to gain his attention, even when the monkey grabbed his pant leg. He just pushed the monkey away from him. "Buzz off. I'm busy here. Hey, Franky, you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Franky got up and brushed the dirt off himself. He tilted his head, cracking his neck, before balling up his fists for a fight. "Well, this really isn't what I was expecting to do upon arriving here, but since you want to fight, then we'll fight. I have no problem with that. But make this quick, okay? We have more important things to do than play with like likes of you."

"You can't be serious," a man said.

"Do you two have any idea of the trouble you're in?" another one asked.

"Trouble?" Zoro blinked, unfazed but curious as to what they were meaning.

The bloody man pressed his thumb to his nose and easily pushed it back into place. He stood up, flexing his muscles they started to expand. He got taller while hairs sprouted out on his arms and face. His shirt ripped down the front, revealing more hair. He turned to Franky. " _You_ are nothing but a worthless piece of machinery. And _you_ will learn your place whether or not you want to."

"What the heck? He's Zoan user?" Zoro stared continuously as the man's body shifted from human to that of a gorilla. Suddenly, his instincts told him that they were in danger. He drug his eyes around the people that surrounded them. He could feel it then. They weren't human. For a split second, he thought that they might be Elementals, but he knew from being around Neo that Elementals didn't give the impression that you were their prey. And he got that from just about everyone here. He could feel their blood lust as their eyes stared him down. His body told him to run. So he did. He ran over to Franky. "Something's not right here."

"I kind of noticed that when that guy turned into a gorilla," Franky said.

"I think they all can turn into animals," Zoro said. "And I don't mean through the means of Zoan Devil Fruit."

"What?" Franky looked at the swordsman standing beside him. "What do you mean by that?"

"I think they were born with the ability to become animals," Zoro said. "Where the heck did that guy send us?"

"I've never heard of someone turning into an animal without the help of a Devil Fruit," Franky said just as more of these strange people morphed into gorillas. They gathered around the first man who transformed, pounding their chests and roaring for a fight. "You ready for a fight, bro?"

"More than ready." Zoro nodded.

The monkey jumped upon Franky's shoulders. It chittered and squawked as it tried its best to get the pirates attention. Franky picked the thing up off his shoulder. Placing it back down on the ground, he said, "You better stay out of this, little guy. We'll handle them then get right back to you."

"You'll handle us?" one guy said. A rumbled of chuckles passed through the gorilla group.

"That's hilarious," another one said.

Crowds began to gather around, the majority of them cheering for the gorilla group to rip off the pirates' heads. Just as the two groups were about to engage in their rumble, something large flew down and grabbed onto Zoro and Franky, sweeping them off their feet and into the bright sun above them. The two pirates shouted in annoyance and surprise when they felt their bodies flying through the air against their wills. The monkey, which had grabbed onto Franky's ankle before they were lifted into the air, continued to cling to the cyborg ankle.

A female voice shouted to them over the rushing wind. "Just hold on! We're almost there!"

"All most where?!" Franky asked.

"Did you take lessons from Luffy?!" Zoro asked.

The female didn't reply. And due to the way they were hanging, from whatever they were hanging from, they couldn't see where they were going. They had no choice but to just hang there until their ride decided to slow down and descend back to the ground. Their hair and clothes blew wildly until they were finally dropped onto the ground in from of a run down little white house with a dark blue roof.

Growling, Zoro looked up to find a young teenage girl riding in some kind of flying vehicle. Rubbing his neck, he said, "What's the big idea grabbing us like that?"

"Yeah," Franky said. "We were just fine."

The girl didn't response. She just pushed a few buttons and the craft she was riding lowered to the ground. She then said, "Do you two have a circuit loose or something?! What were you thinking trying to pick a fight with Rumble?!"

The craft landed on the ground with a whoosh of air before the humming stopped. Its side slid open and a ramp spread out from the bottom of the door. The girl inside then came out of the craft revealing that she was in a hovering chair. She took off her cat eared helmet, letting her long white hair flow over her back. Beside her the craft clicked and hummed while it shifted into a human form with navy blue hair and eyes. He stood beside the girl and asked, " _What were_ you two thinking?"

"What are you talking about? Who's Rumble?" Franky asked.

"And _you_ ," She took off her goggles, revealing her bright orange colored eyes, and pointed right at Franky, "do you _want_ to be dismantled and sold for scrape parts? You of all cyborgs should know better than to speak out like that, especially against Rumble!"

"Seriously, what are you two talking about?" Franky asked again as he and Zoro stared at these two new people before them.

"Cressida, I have checked the records and scanned for an ID chips. These two are not registered in the database," the cyborg said. "There's no record at all of them existing anywhere on this Time Dome. They're not from this place."

"Seriously?!" Cressida looked up at her cyborg, her eyes widened in shock. Her bright orange eyes then shot back over to the pirates. She looked them over a couple times, noting their clothing wasn't from their area either. "Then how in the Time Stream did you two possibly come here?"

"We came here on our ship," Zoro lied.

"Ship? It's impossible for ships of any kind to travel between the Time Domes." Cressida narrowed her eyebrows at them. "Seriously, _where_ did you two come from? How did you even get here when the Time Spheres haven't been working for five hundred years?! Don't lie to me! There's no possible way for you two have come here from another Time Dome! Your clothing isn't from around here! You tried to pick a fight with Rumble! Tell me now! Where did you two come from?!"

Franky and Zoro exchanged looks. Both were thinking the exact same thing. There was no way they could lie their way out of this. Their eyes then went to their monkey companion that was standing between them. But they couldn't tell the truth either. They were stuck in between a rock and a hard place. A thick silence fell over the group, all waiting to see who was going to make the next move. The pirates readied themselves to strike these two so they could escape. Then, before anyone could say or do anything else, sirens shrilled out in the distance and worked their way closer to them.

Cressida tossed a look over her shoulder towards the sirens. "Crap! They're coming this way! Ky!"

"Yes, ma'am." Ky rushed forward to Zoro and Franky. He grabbed their arms and pulled them towards the little house. "Hurry up! Come with me right now!"

"What the heck? Let go of me!" Zoro said.

"What's going on?" Franky asked.

"There's no time to explain right now!" Cressida said to them as the sirens drew ever closer. "Hurry up! Don't just stand there! Get inside! Now! Unless you want to be arrested!"

Unsure of what to do, Zoro and Franky turn and followed after Ky. They pushed into the house. Their feet thumping on the wooden floors as the cyborg lead them right to a closet. He opened it and ushered them inside. "Hurry up. Get inside, keep as quiet as possible and, whatever you do, _do not_ _move an inch_. They will open this door, but they won't be able to see you if you don't move."

"What's going on?" Franky asked.

"I can't explain right now. Just do as I just told you and they'll leave soon," Ky said before shutting the door.

The pirates exchanged looked before settling in to the tight space. They listened as Ky walked somewhere else, clicks and beeps rang out before footsteps took over as he apparently walked back outside. A minute or two later, footsteps were heard once again in the house. They stiffened up. Whoever had come here had entered into the house with Kay and Cressida.

"I hope you understand why we are doing this," a man said.

"Of course I do. Go ahead and look around all you want," Cressida's voice said with confidence. "You won't find anything. I told you that already."

"I assure you we will make a thorough sweep of your…humble little _home_ , Miss Cressida," the male voice said. "And I really do hope for your sake that you are telling the truth and those fugitives aren't here. You know the laws here. If they are you _will_ be arrested too as their accomplice and your filthy robot will be dismantled. Those two have broken the ultimate law."

"Of course we all know the laws," Cressida said. "Rumble has made sure to throw them in our faces at every turn."

"Watch your tongue!" the man hissed. "You will not speak ill of Master Rumble! He has does wonders for this place! He's gotten the filth right where they need to be!"

The pirates didn't hear Cressida respond. The only sounds they heard after that were the thumping of footsteps, things bring pushed around or dropped on the floor, and more footsteps then some dishes being dropped onto the floor.

"Stop that! It's unnecessary to break my dishes!" Cressida snapped. "I highly doubt that my dishes are big enough to hide people of any size! You might be the law around here, but that does not give you the right to act like barbarians!"

Suddenly the door to the pirates hiding spot flung opened. They both almost flicked upon the light filtering into the their small hiding place. Their hearts pounded hard in their chests. They took slow breaths in an attempt to silence their pounding hearts. Glancing down at their monkey companion, they both hoped it didn't move an inch. Lifting their eyes back to the man standing in front of them, they watched as he ran his sunglasses hidden eyes roam over every inch of the small closet. The Straw Hats were getting annoyed at the man. How long did it take someone to notice this small room was really empty? The room couldn't have been more than six feet wide and four feet deep. Finally satisfied that no one was in the closet, he closed the door and said, "All's clear over here, Chieftain! They're not in the closet!"

"All's clear upstairs too," a voice said.

"See? I told you they weren't hear," Cressida said.

"Very well then. It must have been someone else that helped them escape. We will continue our search elsewhere now. Good day to you, Miss Cressida," the Chieftain said.

The pirates remained still and hidden for several minutes passed before Ky opened the door once more. He said, "You can come out now. They're gone."

"About time," Zoro grumbled, leaving the small confinements of the closet. "What the heck was that all about anyway?"

"How is it possible that they didn't see us in that closet?" Franky asked while looking back at the small room they came out of. "It's not that big of a room."

"The room is protected by a hologram," Ky explained. "When the guard looked inside all he saw was the small broom closet that it really is. But if you moved you would have disrupted the illusion. That's why I stressed for you two to hold still so much. This entire house is rigged to project illusions to prote-"

"Ky!" Cressida snapped.

"We can trust them, Cress," Ky said, turning to her.

"Trust them?! How can we trust them when they've already lied to us once?!" Cressida demanded from him.

"I have examined their biorhythms since we first spotted them. They have no ill intentions again us, Cress," Ky replied.

"You can't be serious! But, fine, whatever! Do what you wish!" Cressida scoffed then disappeared into another room, slamming the door behind her.

"Charming hostess she is. She saves us then bites our heads off?" Franky blinked at the closed door. He turned back to Ky with tons of questions but he only asked one. "What's up with her?"

"Forgive her," Ky said. "She can be…a bit difficult to understand from time to time." He gestured to the chairs around the table while moving towards the small refrigerator in the room. "Please sit down so we can talk."

Zoro and Franky exchanged looked before they sat down at the table. While Ky moved around the tiny kitchen to get them drinks, the pirates looked around the room for a closer look. It was a combination kitchen and living room. The only other rooms were the one they just came out of and the one Cressida went into. A small staircase just in front of the main door led up to a second floor.

Ky placed two cups on the table and sat down. "You two are on the Time Dome of Cyborg Slaves."

"Cyborg Slaves?" Franky asked.

"Yes." Ky nodded. "This place has always view cyborgs as inferior beings since the beginning but in the past six thousand years thing have only get worse for me and my cyborg brethren. Rumble, the man you attacked in the city, is descended from the people who came into power here and made this place into a living nightmare for those of us who are cyborgs."

"We noticed that you all were working as slaves in the city," Franky said.

"That's just the beginning of it," Ky said. "While we are forced to work such jobs with little to no pay, we also have to fight in tournaments so we can feed our families."

"Fight in tournaments?" Zoro asked.

"Yes." Ky nodded. "If we refuse to fight, we automatically get sent to be dismantled for scraps."

"Why don't you all just refuse to fight then?" Zoro asked.

"We can't," Ky said. "It's the law here. We must fight, literally, for our right to live. If we speak out against these law then we're automatically thrown into the scrap pile and killed."

"That's seriously twisted," Franky said. His eyes dropped down to Ky's body. Upon a closer look he noticed several dints in the man's body and several repairs had been done to him.

"It is. Before the Time Spheres stopped working Empress Futura was in talks with Rumble about abolishing the slavery of cyborgs. I don't know if she would have been able to convince him since he's such a stubborn and selfish man, but it gave hope to many. But all of that hope was dashed against the rocks when the Time Spheres stopped working. Empress Futura hasn't been able to come here for centuries now. So we have really no hope for her return."

"Empress Futura?" Zoro asked.

"She governs the Time Stream you two are currently floating in. Though many of the Time Domes aren't under her jurisdiction so she can't really interfere much on them." Ky looked at the two pirates sitting across from him. They both were giving him confused looks. "Oh, yeah. I forgot that you two aren't from around here. You two are literally flowing along with time. You are in the past, the present, and the future while also not being in the past, present and future. It's quiet complicated indeed."

"Hold on there, bro. Why are you telling us all this when you obviously know we're not going to tell you a single thing about us or where we come from?" Franky asked.

"I know it's a bit odd since we only just met, but I trust you both whole heartedly." Ky looked at him with a sincere smile. "That is just the way Cress built and programmed me. I can easily tell when someone's going to cause harm, when they're good, when they're bad…I can just tell that you are here on a mission and can't share details. Besides, anyone who stands up to Rumble, like you two did, are good in my book. I wished you could have continued your fight with him."

"Hold on! You mean _that_ girl built you?!" Zoro casted his eyes back to the door Cressida went through. "But how?! She can't even walk!"

"She did indeed build me." Ky nodded. "Her disability doesn't really hamper her in doing anything, especially with the technology around here. She is one of the smartest people on this Time Dome. Both her parents were geniuses as well so she got it from them. Her parents were two of the top doctors skilled in cyborg technology. But, unfortunately, they were under the employment of Rumble when they were alive."

"Were?" Franky asked.

"Although there is no actual physical proof of this, Rumble murdered Cress's parents about nine years ago. You see, it use to be when people became cyborgs it was because of an accident that mangled their body up beyond repair of normal means. But when Rumble's family came into power they started to abuse that technology and turned people into cyborgs at whim for any reason, or no reason at all. They felt like people who were cyborgs are no longer living beings with the rights to choose how they should live. The Rumble family threatened Cressida's parents into putting control chips into all cyborgs by telling them they'd kill Cressida if they didn't listen. These control chips can hurt the cyborg or even kill them if they _step too far out of line_. And as I'm sure you can already guess, that _out of line_ can be anything the Rumble family wants it to be. They really have no set limit."

"That's awful!" Franky cried. He rubbed the tears away only to have more fall down his face. "I feel for you all, my brother! If there was only something we could do for you!"

"Eventually, Cressida's parents had enough with them constantly changing the rules and using the cyborgs as their own personal for of entertainment. So they started to make it where the control chips would malfunction. This little malfunction would set the cyborgs free of control. Then all they had to do was escape the city and hide in the mountains where there are other people who want to free the cyborgs as well. But, someone betrayed her parents they thought that they could trust. And when this person told Rumble what they were doing, he called for their execution. They tried to flee this place with Cressida when they were attacked, however…the control chips that Cressida's parents were using were linked back to Rumble's master mainframe. With Rumbles own cyborg specialist they were about to turn the chips into control chips, literally. Rumble used the cyborgs as puppets to track down Cress's family. Now the Rumble family has its own army of cyborgs that only that family can control if the population ever gets out of control or decides to retaliate like Cress's family did. That's why no one ever stands up to Rumble anymore. He far too powerful for anyone to stop."

"That's just wrong," Franky said. "So many lives are being destroyed in more ways than one."

"So how did you two meet? Are you a part of her family too or are you just a friend of the family?" Zoro asked.

"Now I am her family. The only family she has. I use to be a slave, however. But, unlike so many others, I don't ever remember not being a cyborg. I have no idea who my biological family is or even if they're still alive. Cressida found me shortly after her parents were killed. She was on the run from Rumble since he tried to kill her as well, but she managed to escape him and his army somehow. When she found me in a ditch I was barely working. I looked like such an awful mess. I wanted to just die right there and get it over with. Then when I saw her, I realized there were others in this place that was hurting far worse than I was. And, for whatever reason, when she found me, she wanted to save me. I guess she thought I was the sorriest looking thing on the dome. And here we are." Ky placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Still together after all of these years."

"How did she end up in that chair, if you don't mind me asking?" Franky questioned. "Was she always like that?"

"No, she wasn't. A few years, after she saved me, Rumble tried again to kill her. I wasn't strong enough then to prevent it completely and she was paralyzed in that attack. I told her she could become a cyborg, but she turned it down. I don't and can't blame her at all for that. If she did she'd put herself at risk. Rumble would use the opportunity to take control over her. I wouldn't be able to do much of anything then." Ky gave a soft smile. "I don't want to ever lose her. I love her far too much. I want to always be with her."

"Okay, that might be a bit too much information, bro," Franky stated.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes my heart takes over my mouth. What I really want is to take her far away from here, but she won't go," Ky reported.

"Why not?" Zoro said. "Doesn't seem like anything's holding you two here."

"You're wrong. There is one thing holding us here. And that's the rest of the cyborg population. The control chips are still malfunctioning. And when that happens we help them escape from the city. Cress feels responsible for those that are under Rumble's control. She wants to continue with what her parents started. She wants to try and free them all at once. But there are so many to help, so many risks, and the biggest one is Rumble's desire to try and kill her again. I don't know how much longer I will be able to protect her. He might succeed next time. And I wouldn't be able to bare that."

"Free all of them at once? How is she planning on doing that?" Franky asked. "Sounds like it will be something extremely difficult to do."

"It would be if Cress wasn't already prepped on how the chips really work. And this house is actually a beacon in disguise. We built it so that we can send a disruption wave over the city to disable the control chips all at once, but we don't have it working yet." Ky then tapped a plate on his chest. A door clicked and popped open, revealing a mirror inside that had no reflection of any kind in it. Franky and Zoro's eyes widened upon seeing the sharp. "We found this a few months ago. This piece of material has some strange abilities within it. It, somehow, has completely destroyed the control chip that was inside of me. We believe that this thing should be enough to charge the beacon and free the cyborgs. But Rumble has been getting suspicious of us as of late. I don't know how much longer we'll be able to keep him from realizing what we're up to here. We're lucky that he hasn't busted into this place and completely tore it apart." He took a deep breath and released it. "Anyway, right now we need to get you two set up in this world before you're caught."

"Set up?" Franky asked.

"I'm already working on getting you two planted into the system's data base," Ky said. "As long as I move slowly, I can get it where you two will take over the lives of some who have already passed away. Then all I have to do is construct control chips for you two."

"Hold on there a second!" Zoro said. "I don't want a control chip inside of me! I'm not a cyborg!"

"I might be a cyborg, but I don't want one either!" Franky said.

"I'm sorry," Ky said. "I probably shouldn't have put it that way. These chips won't control either of you. They're more like ghost chips." He pointed at Zoro. "The one you'll be wearing is only use to keep you linked to your cyborg here. I guess you could basically call it a leash. If they scan either of you, you'll be linked together by the chips and contacted if something happens to either of you." He pointed to Franky. "For you it'll be a bit different. It'll send mental messages to you when or if you step out of line. The chip will tell you how you need to react when Rumble using his control over you to calm you down."

"I think I understand, but I still don't want that thing inside of me," Franky said.

"It won't literally be inside of you," Ky said. "Cress with attach it around your temple and color it so it blends in with your skin tone. That way you can easily rip it off when needed."

"Rip it off?" Zoro asked. "Won't that damage stuff?"  
"No." Ky shook his head. "It won't damage anything at all. It will be completely safe."

"So when will we put the chips on us?" Franky asked.

"I hope to have the chips here by tomorrow since you two will need to enter into your first fight tomorrow to gain your rations for the day," Ky said. "I need to speak with Cress about it and make sure she'll do it. But I know she will. She doesn't want anyone to get hurt here."

"So we're going to have to fight," Zoro said, smiling.

"Only the cyborgs fight," Ky said. "You'll basically be his owner."

"That's just great," Franky and Zoro mumbled.

"I'm sorry, but that's just how it works around here," Ky said. "People also place bets on the fights. Though I doubt you two have the type of money we have around here. So you most likely won't participate in the gambling."

"Sounds like it's going to be a real bore here," Zoro said. "I wonder what the others are doing right now."

"Whatever it is it can't be as bad as this," Franky said.

"I'm tempted to ask what you mean by that," Ky said, causing the pirates to stiffen up in defense. "But don't worry. I won't ask you anything like that."

"Thanks a lot," Zoro said. "We really appreciate it."

"Well, I should get supper started now," Ky said, standing up. "We don't have much but we're happy to share with you two."

"Thanks a lot," Franky said. The two pirates then just sat around the table as the room filled with the smell of whatever Ky was cooking them. It has a slight bitter smell to it. But at this point they were hungry enough that they didn't care what it smelled like or even tasted like. They ate alone with Ky. The cyborg took his friend a bowl of the grit like looking slop before rejoining them in the kitchen.

"I'll show you to your room now," Ky said once they were finished. "I hope you two don't mind sharing. We don't have a lot of space here."

"It's fine," Franky said. "We're use to sharing."

"That's good to hear," Ky said, leading them up the stairs and into the one of the two rooms in the small hallway. "That other door is the bathroom. There's towels and everything in there if you wish to take a shower."

"Where do you sleep?" Zoro asked.

"I sleep in the same room with Cress," Ky said. "Since Rumble has tried so many times to kill her, I don't like leaving her side for every long. You can come get us if you need anything."

"Thanks," Franky said just before Ky left them alone. He saw down on the floor. "Man, this place is really messed up."

"Yeah." Zoro nodded while he sat down on the only bed in the room.

"But the shard is right here," Franky said. "What do we do now? We can't just knock them out after everything Ky just told us."

"I figured you'd say something like that," Zoro said. "But this isn't our problem. We have our own."

"Are you suggesting we just knock them out and take the shard?" Franky frowned at the swordsman. "After everything you heard down there?"

"Are you suggesting we stay here forever?" Zoro shot back.

"No, it's just that I…" Franky dropped his eyes down to the floor. Her gripped his large hands together and gritted his teeth.

"Look, I know how you feel, especially with you being a cyborg yourself," Zoro said as gently as he could, "but this really isn't our fight. We have our own problem. Remember that Neo is waiting for us."

"I know she is," Franky said. "And she would want us to help them."

"Huh?" Zoro lifted an eyebrow at his crewmate.

"You know she would," Franky said, locking eyes with Zoro. "You know she would relate to them on being a slave. She basically was one to the whole world. She might not have been used like the cyborgs are here but she-"

"All right, all right!" Zoro said. "We'll so what we can. But if it looks like we're getting in too deep, we're grabbing the shard and getting the heck out of here."

"Ow! Thanks, bro!" Franky said. "You won't regret this at all!"

"I already regret it," Zoro said, frowning. His eyes wondered over to the silent monkey. It was standing in the corner just watching them with its typical silent stare. He wondered if Pendulum would do something to them and Neo for waiting on taking the shard.

…

The next day the pirates were up before the other two were. They waited until they heard movement down in the kitchen before heading down themselves. Ky was moving about in the kitchen until he noticed them. He said, "Good morning. Your chips will be here shortly after breakfast. When they arrive we will put them on you and set you up for your first fight which will be after lunch."

"Great," Zoro said, sitting down with the monkey by his feet.

"Your first fight here will be easy," Ky said to Franky. "They always are. But it will get harder after that."

"No problem," Franky said. "I'm a pretty good fighter."

"Glad to hear it," Ky said. "I won't have to worry so much then."

Not long after that, Cressida came out and breakfast was ready. She pulled her chair up to the table without a word. Their meal was small and unfamiliar to the pirates once again. But at least they had something. Then a knock came on the door. Ky got up and answered it, coming back with a package in his hand. Cressida nodded and headed back to her room.

"Come on," Ky called.

The pirates got up and followed after the cyborg. They gasped when they entered into the room. It was a lot bigger than they thought it would be. To their left was a surgery like room with several buttons and machines that neither of them could identify. To their right were two beds and another door, which they assumed, was a bathroom.

"This place is amazing," Franky said.

"I never would have guess a room this size would be in a house this small," Zoro said.

"Holograms do wonders," Ky said.

"Let's just get this over with," Cressida. "Lay down, cyborg."

"Franky." Franky laid down on the table. "Be gently."

"I think you'll survive," Cressida said, pulling goggles down over her eyes. She went quiet after that while she worked on Franky and the chip. With in fifteen minutes, she had the chip attacked to Franky perfectly. She then started working on Zoro's chip.

"That was fast," Franky said, sitting up.

Cressida grunted but gave no other response. Five minutes later, she was tossing a bracelet to Zoro. "There. That should do."

"Great," Zoro grumbled. He slipped it on his wrist. Looking down at it, it looked like a normal bracelet with a silver faceplate.

"Ky?" Cressida looked at her friend.

"I got them." Ky walked over with a pile of clothes in his hands. "Here. You'll need to put these one. We need to try and disguise your looks so Rumble, or anyone else, doesn't recognize you."

The pirates took the clothes. They weren't that much different from the clothes back in the pirate world.

"We'll also need to change your hair," Cressida said, eyeing Franky's easily spotted buzz cut.

"Don't worry about that." Franky pushed his nose and went through a couple different hairstyles before landing on a military style cut.

"That was amazing." Cressida's eyes sparkled.

"She really loves this cyborg stuff, doesn't she?" Zoro asked frowning at the eye patch he was going to have to wear to cover up his left eye. He didn't want to, but he knew they both had to hide what could easily target them as the two who attacked Rumble.

A few hours later, Cressida and Ky were leading the two pirates back to through the city. They all were on edge to see if anyone would notice Zoro and Franky from yesterday. No one did. The locate clothes they were wearing blended them in perfectly, at least for now.

Ky opened a door. The cheering sounds erupted from inside, as well as the smell of blood, sweat, and oil. They entered. Walking along a catwalk, the two pirates looked down to find several cage matches were going on. Bleachers were in place on the sloping floors and multiple screen boxes were hanging from the ceiling to give the viewers easy views to all the fights that was going on.

"This way," Ky said.

They continued to follow their friends.

Cressida moved up to table.

"ID scan," one of the men behind the table said.

Cressida brushed her wrist across the scanner the man held out.

"Ring Six at one thirty," the man said, bored. "Next."

Cressida and Ky moved out of the way.

"ID scan," the man said again.

Blinking, Zoro scanned his wrist under the scanner as Cressida did.

"Ring Seven at two o'clock," the man said.

Zoro and Franky followed Cressida. Franky said, "Well, that was a little too easy."

"I worked on all of this last night," Ky said. "You need to eat. And to eat you have to fight."

"Right." Zoro nodded. "You've already told us that."

The group of five found some empty seats and sat down. They watched the fights until it was time for Ky to enter his.

"Be careful, Ky," Cressida said.

"Aren't I always?" Ky smirked at her before entering into the ring he was assigned to.

They sat back and watched. The announcer started the fight, causing another uproar in the crowd. Franky and Zoro could feel the bloodlust in the crowd as they started to shout out for the red liquid. The fight started with an exchange of punches. Despite Ky's opponent being twice his size, he held his own. He dodged kicks and punches before throwing his own back then blocked again. It was easily for the pirates to see that Ky was using his size to his advantage. With his opponent's bulky size, he was easily faster. After fifteen minutes Ky's opponent was wearing down. He took his time to strike, easily taking the cyborg out with just a few punches. The other cyborg fell backwards, knocked out cold. The announcer announced Ky as the victor. He was meet with a mix of cheers and boos.

A few minutes later, it was Franky's turn.

"Take it easy," Zoro said. "We don't want to reveal our true strength in the first match."

"I know," Franky said, bouncing on his feet inside of the ring. He sized up his opponent that was about the same size he was.

The announcer started the fight.

Franky's opponent came out swinging, knocking him in his left ear. He went flying. Picking himself up, he hoped the chip was sturdy enough to withstand behind hit. He figured it was. If it weren't Cressida would have warned him not to let it get hit. He dodged a punch, and then clipped the cyborg in his chin. More punches and kicks were exchanged. Franky knew that Cressida and Ky had spoken the truth. This fight was one of the easiest he's ever been in. The look in his opponent's eyes also informed him that he was new to fighting and scared. A twinge of guilt filled him. He had years of fighting under his belt and was a wanted pirate. He decided to take it easy on this one. So he pulled back on his punches, but still kept enough force in them to give a good show and not let anyone get suspicious of him. After fifteen minutes of exchanging blows, Franky decided the guy had enough and ended it with one more punch.

The cyborg teetered on his feet before falling back on the floor with a mechanical thunk. The crowd cheered. More guilt filled him with a young girl ran into the ring, bawling her eyes out. She said, "Daddy! Daddy!"

The cyborg was her father. Franky wanted to apologize, but figured it was best not to. He had no idea what the protocol was here for this kind of situation.

"Not bad," Zoro said when Franky stepped out of the ring. "And don't feel guilty. We need the food and we wont be here for long."

"I know," Franky said. "This place is just nuts."

Zoro nodded. "We'll get out of here."

"Yeah," Franky said. The two didn't say anymore after that. They just followed Cressida and Ky to pick up their rations for the day and schedule their next fight for tomorrow.

"You did good," Ky said once they were back outside in the heat.

"Thanks," Franky said.

"The fights will only get harder from here," Cressida said.

"I'm not worried about the fights," Franky said. "We're pretty good fighters where we're from."

"That's good to hear," Ky said. "Then you shouldn't have any problems. And don't worry about your opponents. They still get their rations even if they lose."

"Good," Franky said.

"We should pick up a few more clothes for you two before heading home," Cressida said. "You're going to need them."

Franky and Zoro didn't reply. They didn't want to buy clothes here. It made it feel like they were going to permanently be here. Their eyes slid to Ky's chest. Both having the same thoughts as they looked at him: They could grab it so easily. And Neo was waiting for them. How long were they going to have to stay here?

Forcing their eyes away before they got caught, they looked around the city, carefully taking in all the details just incase they had to fight in this city or escape from a fight.

…

 **Author Notes: If I can get them written up, I'm going to start post multiple chapters a week to get this done. I want to get back to my other stories I have going and want to start others. Thanks for reading.**


	13. Into the Domes P6

Into the Domes

Part Six

Penguin's entire body was shaking with anger when the man disappeared from their sight. He was so angry at everything that happened that all he could see was red. All he wanted to do was find that Pendulum guy and rip his head off. He wanted to scream out loud, to curse Pendulum to the heavens and back. But nothing came out of his mouth. His words appeared to disappear on him. He couldn't recall a single time when words had left him like this. He had to move, despite the pain that shot through his torso from his injure. But that was nothing compared to the pain that was gripping his heart and his mind. He wanted to see his sister so badly, to hold her, and tell her everything was going to be all right. It hurt him even more thinking about how he couldn't do that. He couldn't comfort her at all. Tears pushed against the back of his eyes. He walked away from the two women he was with. Once on the farthest point of the island, he dropped to his knees. Slamming his fists onto the ground, his tears spilled over his eyelids.

The two women behind him remained where they were. They watched him walk as far away from them as he possibly could. When he hit the ground, they turned away from him to give him some privacy. They both knew how much he was hurting. They where hurting and worried as well but their pain was nothing compared to his. He has known her the longest and has built up a special relationship with her.

"How are you doing?" Robin asked the fire Elemental beside her. "I know you're hurting as well. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I'll be fine," Topaz said. "I'm just worried about her like everyone else is."

"And?" Robin probed upon noticing there was more inside of the Elemental's eyes. She also noticed Topaz wasn't wanting to speak anymore about it. But she knew her friend had to get it off her chest. She placed her hand on Topaz's shoulder. "Let it out. It'll only hurt you to keep it inside."

"I failed her," Topaz said, tears pouring out of her clenched eyelids. "I was suppose to protect her and I couldn't do anything to prevent this from happening."

"It wasn't your fault, you know that," Robin said. "Nothing we could do would stop that blob. But we're not helpless now. We will find this shard and return to Neo. Just hold on to that. Neo knows we will come for her. She's strong. She'll be fine."

"Yeah." Topaz nodded. She brushed her sleeve over her eyes. "Thanks, Robin."

Robin nodded with a smile. She then looked over at Penguin. "What about him?"

"We should give him a few more minutes," Topaz said. "He needs to cool down some more before he's ready to tackle this." She looked down at the monkey. "In the mean time, let's see if we can get this thing to show us where the shard is."

Robin nodded. "Do you think we need to push some buttons or something?"  
"I don't know," Topaz said, looking over the monkey's body. "It doesn't look like there are any buttons. Maybe we just ask it?"

"Will you show us the shard?" Robin asked. The monkey's eyes lit up. Light beamed out of it forming a map that blinked with four dots.

"Well, that was easy," Topaz said. The map extended multiple times before a fifth dot appeared on it. "If these dots are meant to represent us, the shard looks like it's quiet some distance from our location. By the way, can you read these strange markings?"  
"No, I can't," Robin said. "I've never see words like this before."

"Great," Topaz said, frowning. "I guess that means we don't be able to read anything here." She looked over at the submarine. "I hope that doesn't cause us much problems with that thing."

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Robin said. "Pendulum said he gave us all we need to get through this. And it looks like the shard is under the water and quiet some distance from us, maybe days or longer. I'm afraid I won't be much help if we have to fight underwater."

"What do you mean by that?" Topaz blinked in confusion. "You're a Devil Fruit user. Of course you won't be able to help under the water."

"Back in the New World," Robin said. "But here things might work differently."

"Back in the New World?!" Topaz gasped. "What do you mean by that?!"  
"I wasn't sure at first, but when Pendulum appeared to us I knew we were no longer in the New World," Robin said. "This monkey, whatever material it's made of isn't in our world at all." She flicked the monkey with her finger. It made a hollow sound. "This monkey is hollow inside. If we took it apart we probably wouldn't find any kind of gears or any other type of machinery inside of it. I was also suspicious when we learned that we are all on different _domes_ instead of _islands_. Pendulum clearly had the upper hand on us when he attacked before. He could have easily shown himself to us in person and it wouldn't have changed anything. But he chose not to for whatever reason."

"This is just crazy," Topaz said. She looked around their surrounding again. "Now that you mention it…the sea doesn't smell like ours does. In fact, it doesn't appear to be salt water at all. It kind of smells sweet."

"I don't care." The women looked up when Penguin finally spoke to them. They were so lost in their conversation that they didn't even hear the man walking back over to them. His cheeks were red from his crying and his fists were red from punching the ground so much. "We're going to find that stupid shard and shove it down Pendulum's throat."

The women nodded then stood up with him. Without another word, they walked over to the sub with the monkey following them. Penguin was the first to climb up the small ladder that was attached to the side of the sun. Turning the handle on top of the hatch, he opened it and slid inside. Lights flickered on upon his arrival. He looked around. There was only one passageway that led to the front and to the back of the sub. Above him the two pirate women entered into the sub. Topaz closed the hatch and locked it into place. When the women joined him, he headed straight for the control room. He sat down in the pilot seat and began to look over the controls.

…

Topaz and Robin wondered in the opposite direction. Halfway down the hall they found a small kitchenette paired with a small table and two benches that were attached to the wall. Beyond that was the bathroom, which was equipped with a small shower, and the sleeping quarters with six beds built into the walls, three on each side.

"Well, this is really…homey," Topaz said. "I'm already homesick for the sub. This place is really small."

"It'll have to do until we can find the shard," Robin said. "Since we're only going to eat and sleep in here this space is big enough."

"Yeah." Topaz nodded. "I'm just use to bigger and more opened spaces. I'm a creature of nature after all."

"That's understandable," Robin said.

"We need a first aid kit to tend to Penguin's wound," Topaz said, looking around. "Where do you think it would be? It doesn't look like this place has an actual medical bay in it."

Robin stepped away from her. They started going through all the small nooks and crannies they could find but weren't have any luck in finding anything that resembled a first aid kit. They were about to give up when they heard a chirping sound. Looking down they found that their monkey companion was holding a box the size of a normal first aid kit but it was grey with a black X over the front. The Straw Hat pirate took the box and opened it. "Well, it looks like a first aid kit."

"Let's just hope we pick out the correct medicine to put on his wound. Now that we have that let's see if Penguin can get this tub moving," Topaz said, leading the way back down the hall and into the control room. The found Penguin was hard at work leaning over the controls in the middle of the only three seats in the room. He wore an intense and frustrated expression on his face. "Can you control this thing?"  
"I think I can," Penguin said. "While I don't understand these words, or whatever they are, these controls look very similar to the controls on the Polar Tang. I'll need to run a bit of a trial and error test before we really get going."

"All right, but first let's take care of your wound," Topaz said.

"I'm fine," Penguin said with a flinch.

"Sure you're fine," Topaz said. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her boot on the floor. "Come on now. Roll down your boiler suit. Neo won't be happy if you get that injury infected."

Penguin sighed. He knew the fire Elemental was correct. Neo wouldn't be happy with him at all. And they still had no idea what kind of trouble they were going to get themselves in. So without a word, he stood up, unzipped his boiler suit, and rolled it down to his hips.

"We still don't know which ointment to use," Robin said, eyeing the first aid kit she was still holding.

The monkey chirped again and reached for the kit. It hoped the box and pulled out a brown bottle. It handed it to Topaz then pointed at Penguin.

Topaz opened the bottle to find the content inside was a clear liquid that had a sharp, hair curling smell to it. "Well, I'm assuming this is something to flush out the wound. Let's go to the crew-"

"No," Penguin said, sitting back down. "We're doing it right here. I don't want to waste anymore time than we already have."

"Yeah." Topaz nodded. She waited until he had leaned back enough for her to pour the liquid into the wound. Pressing some gauze underneath the hole, she poured the liquid, catching what rolled down his skin.

Penguin hissed through his teeth when the liquid touched his sensitive wound. It burned like fire.

"Sorry," Topaz said.

"Don't be," Penguin replied.

"I hope that this is the correct medication that will help you instead of hurt you," Robin said.

"Thanks a lot," Penguin said.

"Well, Pendulum wants us alive to do this job for him," Topaz said, glancing at the silent monkey. "So I doubt that he'll do anything to purposefully hurt us."

"I guess he's good for something," Penguin hissed while glaring at the monkey.

Robin and Topaz didn't reply, not even with a little nod. Both women knew he was going to be very hostile towards Pendulum and their monkey companion. Once he was all bandaged up, he pulled his suit back on and went back to looking at the controls.

"Can you work it?" Topaz asked after several minutes.

"I believe so. It really doesn't look that much different from the captain's sub. But as I've said before, we're going to have to start out with a trail and error test run before we get going. You two better sit down and buckle in. This is going to be a rocky start," Penguin said.

Robin and Topaz did what he said immediately. They sat down at his sides and pulled their buckles over their bodies. They sat patiently while Penguin continued to look over the control panel before he finally started flipping switches and pressing buttons. Not long after that the engines roared to life. Slowly, he started to glide the sub away from the deck, bumping into it as he went.

"Sorry," Penguin said. He steadied the sub before testing himself on guiding the sub in different directions. Once he felt confident in that, he started to dive the sub down into the unknown depths below them. He continued to test out the controls once he was underwater for several minutes. Luckily for them the entire sub was easier to get control of than they thought it would be. They all just wished the writing was in a language they could understand. But they pushed those thoughts aside and headed off into the unknown with only the monkey's map to guide them.

"Wow," Topaz exclaimed a half an hour later at the colorful fish swimming around them. Despite the fact none of them could identify the crazy looking fish, they all were marveled at their colorfulness. It was like a swarm of rainbows were sitting along with them under the sea. "Neo would love these things."

"She would." Robin nodded. "Can you speak to them?"  
"I don't know. I haven't tried," Topaz said. "It would be great if I could. We might be able to use their help if we run into trouble down here." She waited for a lone fish to swim by before calling out for it. "Hello there."

The fish stopped swimming and looked at her for a second before swimming off.

"Well," Topaz said.

"What did it say?" Robin asked.

"It asked me to leave it alone," Topaz said. "Never met a snooty fish before."

"I guess that's to be expected since we're no longer in our world," Robin said. "They've never seen an Elemental before, that we're aware of. The animals here might not be all that friendly."

"I hope they are," Topaz said, resting her chin in her hand. "For Neo's sake if nothing else. I wonder what type of dome Neo's on."

"Probably the safest one of all," Robin replied. "I wonder what he really has planned for her."

"He better not have anything planned for her," Penguin said through gritted teeth.

Robin and Topaz just looked at him before turning their gazes back out the window before them. There was nothing they could say that would make this better. And there was nothing else they could talk about other than Neo. None of them really wanted to talk about her thought. All they would do was worry themselves even more. And that wasn't good for anyone. So they had no choice but to remain quietly starting out the window.

"If you two are tired you should get some sleep," Penguin said four hours later.

"What about you?" Robin said. "You've been up just as long as we have. You need your rest as well."

"No." Penguin shook his head. His hands tightened on the controls. "I'm too furious to sleep right now. And I just want to get as close to the shard as I possibly can before resting."

"We can understand," Robin spoke softly. "She's going to be fine though. She's a lot stronger since that first time that your captain found her."

"I know she has. I watched her grow up after all. But even though she has gotten lot stronger, she still has occasional nightmares about what happened to her in the past. And this is the only time since the Elementals took her that she's been completely on her own. That was only for a few days though. This little forced adventure could take days or weeks to finish. She's just so use to being around us all the time. I'm worried that when she wakes up and realizes we're not there she might have a relapse. That she might try and hurt herself again."

"She won't do that, Penguin," Topaz assured him. "She's long passed doing that to herself. And she'll never do something that will put her and the captain's baby in danger."

"It's also safe to assume that Pendulum will speak with her at some point when she wakes up like he did with us. Through that alone she'll know that we might be some distance from her, but we will return at some point. For now, let's try and keep focus on the task at hand. We have no idea what's in these waters. There could be something worse than sea kings out here. And the sooner we all get the shards the sooner we can be reunited with her," Robin said. "So how about we do this? You can continue to drive the sub while Topaz and I get some sleep. After that one of us will relieve you so you can get some rest as well. We can rotate like that so we can keep going without stopping."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Topaz said. "What about you, Penguin?"

"Yeah, I agree. That sounds like the best plan we could possibly have." Penguin gave the women a small, but genuine smile.

"All right then. It's been settled. We'll see you in a few hours," Topaz said.

The click of their safety belts was released, freeing them to head back to the crew quarters. This left Penguin all alone in the control room with the monkey. He glared down at it. He didn't want it anywhere near him. He feared that he would lose control of his anger and destroy the thing before it could take them back to his sister. The thought of her managed to calm him down enough to focus on the sea. When he felt his anger starting to get the better of him he calmed himself with deep breaths and would pretend Neo was with him. Only she was outside of the sub playing with the strange creatures that swam uncaringly around the heavy machine that passed them. It made him feel a lot better picturing her happy face and playing with the sea life. But there was still an emptiness sitting heavily in his heart. He knew it wouldn't go away until he was back with his beloved little sister. Soon he got lost in his thoughts of her, forcing himself to remember good times instead of letting himself focus on her being all alone in the middle of who knows where.

…

He had no idea how long he had been thinking about his sweet little sister since time seemed to have stood still for him. But a violent thud and rock of the sub pulled him out of his thoughts. Sirens screeched as red lights flashed through the sub. Another loud thump happened and this one sent the sub spinning through the water. He flipped switched and pushed buttons, silently pleading to God above that he was hitting the correct ones.

"Penguin!" Topaz's voice called from over the alarm's screeching. "What's going on?!"

"I don't know!" Penguin said. "Something must have hit us! But I don't see anything through the window or on the monitors!" The sub rocked again, sending both Robin and Topaz up against the wall. "Hurry up! Get up here and get locked into your safety belts!"

"We're coming!" Topaz said. She grabbed Robin's wrist and helped the Straw Hat to her feet before they pushed themselves along side the wall until they managed to pulled themselves into their seats and buckle themselves in. "I sense something! I'm not sure what it is, but there is definitely something underneath us!"

"Creatures don't often attack unless they feel threatened or they're protecting their offspring," Robin said.

"Then most likely whatever's attacking us is doing one of those two things," Penguin said.

"Or it's hunting us for food," Robin said. "After all this sub is shaped like a fish."

"Don't say things like that!" Penguin snapped.

"Just move us away from here as fast as you can! Try maneuvering through those rock formations over there!" Topaz said. "I'll try and communicate with the creature attacking us!"

"Okay!" Penguin nodded. He angled the sub four degrees to his right and headed for the rock formations that Topaz had pointed out. From their current location it looked like it was going to be a tight fit in between then, but it was better than sitting around until their sub was sunk by whatever was attacking them. "Hold on!"

Another hit was made on the sub. It stalled the engines for a few seconds. The pirates all held their breaths in hopes that the sub engines would start up again. They exhaled when the engines continued to hum. Penguin wasted no time in picking up their speed.

"Come on! Listen to me!" Topaz pleaded to the unseen creature. "We're not here to hurt you! And we're not your dinner either! Trust me, you don't want to eat this fish! It's not listening!"

"Why is it attacking us?" Robin said.

"Because it has a nest of babies around here that it's hunting for!" Topaz said. "It wants to eat us!"

"Well, that's definitely not good," Robin said.

"No kidding!" Penguin said. "But hold on! We're almost to the rocks!"

The back of the sub dipped down in the water from another hit by the creature. All of the pirates gritted their teeth in wonder and worry if they were going to make it or not.

"That's it!" Topaz said.

"What's it?!" Penguin asked.

"I can try and ask other fish to help us!" Topaz said. She closed her eyes and connected herself to the world around her as much as she possibly could. She felt out for small sea creatures and for large sea creatures. Once she felt like she had their attention she pleaded with them to help them escape. _Please, my friends. We're not here to hurt you at all. Please, help us get to the safety of those rocks. Our little sister is counting on us to survive and come back to her. We just need you to distract this thing hunting us so we can escape. Just a little distraction is all we need. Please, I'm begging you to help us._

"Hey, look at that," Robin said. "The sea creatures are gathering. It looks like you reached them."

"Really?" Topaz peaked through one eye. She exhaled with relief to see the thousands of sea creatures swimming around them clearly in attack mode. "Thank you! Thank you all so very much!"

Penguin quickly got the sub back under control. He sped up the sub as fast as he knew he could handle and maneuvered in between two rock formations. The sub creaked and groan when one of the sides brush up against the rocks. But once they were inside, they had more than enough room to maneuver through a lot of the passageways. With the area being darker than their previous location, he flipped a switch that turned on extra lights on the outside. "There. That's better."

"Wow!" Topaz exclaimed when the lights flickered on and hit the rocks revealing them to be sparkling masses. "What do you think those are?"

"They look like some kind of jewels," Robin said.

"That's possible," Penguin said. "If this really is some other kind of world, surely they have their own valuables here."

"Indeed," Robin said. "I'd love to study those rocks if we had the chance."

"Well, maybe you'll find a piece you can pick up while we're down here," Topaz said, earning a nod from the Straw Hat. "Be careful, Penguin. The sea creature that was attacking us is moving above us."

"All right," Penguin said. "Keep a look out for it. If we're luck, that thing won't be able to reach us down here."

Topaz and Robin leaned forward and kept their eyes above them. A dark shadow swam over them before a large pincher reached into the rocks. They tensed up when it looked like the thing was going to hit them. They relaxed upon realizing they were too far away for it to reach them.

"It looks like we're safe," Robin said just before the creature hit the top of a rock formation, causing several large boulders to rain down on them.

"Or not!" Topaz said. "It's still trying to sink us!" She gasped when the creature finally came into their view. "What the…what the heck is that thing?!"

"Is it a lobster?" Robin questioned. It did look like lobster only its body was flat, its pinchers were almost twice the size of its body, and it had a snake like tail.

"It's not like any lobster I've ever seen," Topaz said.

"Hold on!" Penguin cried as he began to move the sub to avoid the rocks that were now threatening to send them to the darkest depths of this place. He rapidly pressed buttons in hopes to find some kind of weapon that would help them. "Let's hope the weapons on this thing are strong enough to handle that creature! Uh, let's just hope this thing has weapons that can handle that thing period!"

With the sirens still blaring their warnings, a couple small hatches opened on the outside of the sub. Narrow missiles shot out. With no way to control them they just slammed into some rock formations. Penguin cursed under his breath. Those weren't going to be of any help unless they had a way to angle the sub straight up and down in the water. With his heart racing in panic at the thoughts of not surviving this and never seeing his little sister again, he hit a button unintentionally. "Oh no."

The lights in the sub flickered, the sirens and flashing red lights flicked off and were replaced by a vibration that shook the entire sub.

Topaz looked around, worry etched into her facial features. "What is this? What's going on?"

"I don't know! I didn't mean to hit that button!" Penguin shrieked in panic. He reached for the button to shut it off.

"Wait!" Robin tapped his hand to stop him. "Look."

Penguin and Topaz followed the dark haired woman's gaze out the window. They saw that the creature looked like it was in pain, but nothing appeared to be attacking it. Soon with a strange screeching sound that could only came from the creature erupted through the water and it took off. After a few more seconds of the vibration, Penguin pressed the button and the vibrating stopped. He asked, "What was that?"

"Insane," Topaz said. "That's what it was."

"Maybe it was some kind of sonic attack that we couldn't hear," Robin offered. "Or perhaps it's like the sea prism stones that the Navy uses to ward off sea kings? Whatever it was it seem to only affect the sea creatures. As you can see there are none around here now."

"Hey, you're correct," Topaz said. "I don't sense any sea creatures anywhere near us now."

"Whatever it was, I'm just glad it worked. Now we can refocus on finding the shard," Penguin said. "I hope we don't run into something like that again. Can someone check the map? I don't want to take my eyes off these formations until we're out of here safely."

"Show us the map," Topaz said. The monkey's eyes lit up again, revealing the map. "We're still heading in the correct direction."

"That's good," Penguin said. "I was worried for a moment that thing might gotten us off course."

"Well, not that the excitement is over," Topaz said. "How about I make us something to eat then take over the sub?"  
"Food I could use," Penguin said, his stomach growling in agreement. "But I'll fine on driving the sub for a while longer. After that attack I don't think I could sleep anyway."

"All right then." Topaz unlocked her safety belt and headed for the small galley. "But after you eat you're going to bed. You need your rest. You know that would be Neo's orders for you."

"Yeah." Penguin nodded. "I know."

Without another word Topaz made her way back down the hall until she reached the small galley. It didn't take long for her to go through the cabinets and fridge. What did take her a while was trying to figure out what all the strange food was. She had to conduct several experiments to figure out what needed cooking, what didn't need to be cooked, and other such tests. Eventually, she managed to make them some sandwiches and a drink that tasted like silk with a bitter after taste. Picking up the tray, she made her way back to the control room. She offered their dinner to Robin before sitting down and giving Penguin a sandwich. "Here. It's not the best tasting food in the world, but it'll have to do. At least, I think its food. We might end up deathly ill from eating unknown substances."

"It's not the worst thing I've ever eaten," Robin said.

"It'll do," Penguin said. "It just makes me miss Neo even more. I wonder what she would have done with this type of food. I bet she would be able to make it taste even better."

"She probably would," Topaz said. A soft chuckled escaped her lips when she got a mental picture of Neo and Sanji trying to figure out how to cook this type of food. "Since it's so foreign, they'll probably have a hard time with it at first. I bet they'd burn something stuff, over cook other stuff, and probably catch something on fire. Though with how skill Sanji is, he'd probably be able to easily make us one heck of a fiesta with this stuff."

"I think the former suggestion might actually be more accurate," Robin said. "Sanji's a world class chief, but even they have trouble when they have foreign foods to cook it. He'd have to try some trial and error recipes."

"You might be correct on that," Topaz said. "I wonder what everyone is doing right now. Well, whatever they're doing and wherever they are, I just hope their skills can get them through this."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Robin said. "Pendulum probably divided us up according to our strength and weaknesses."

"You think so?" Topaz asked.

"That would be my guess," Robin said. "He put us three together after all. Penguin has spent years inside of a submarine, you have your fire crystals and the ability to talk to animals, and I have my Devil Fruit powers. There could have been other ways we could have been divided up, but anyone of the Heart Pirates would have been here to control the sub."

"Then they should be just fine with whatever they have to do to get their shards," Topaz said.

"Except for whoever's with Straw Hat," Penguin said.

A stretch of silence passed through the small sub before it was filled with laughter from the three pirates. They knew whoever got paired up with Luffy was going to have the hardest time of all.

…

Pendulum tapped his fingertips together while he watched the pirates react to his deceleration and what he had planned for them to do. He loved watching their angry actions, hearing their words curse at him, and seeing the hopelessness in their eyes despite the face it didn't take long to be replaced with distain for him. He loved it all. He enjoyed it all. He wanted to see more of it. And he was sure he would see plenty of it with how angry the pirates were at him.

He scanned his eyes over all of the viewing mirrors, carefully watching as the pirates started off on their forced journeys. He knew some of them were going to figure out they weren't in the New World anymore. And he knew some of the people of the Time Domes would also figure out that the pirates didn't belong here while others would only suspect the pirates didn't belong. One of those would be with Nami and Law. The Heart Pirate captain gave him such joy when he slammed his fist into the tree. He loved seeing the blood and how angry the pirate was. It sent shivered up and down his body. He wanted to watch that part over and over and over. But he knew that he couldn't. He needed to keep a close eye on them here in the beginning to make sure they weren't going to reveal to anyone who they really were and why they were in the Time Domes to begin with. He wasn't really worried about them revealing themselves. He was more concerned about them getting the shard pieces so he could continue with his plans.

He turned his eyes to the eight mirror just in time to see the Time Sprites tell the Princess of the Elementals who he was and who he use to work for. He didn't mind. The Time Sprites had no way of getting information to the empress. But he knew the empress already knew that the pirates were in the Time Domes. It was impossible for her to not know since she was the empress. The only thing she didn't know if what his plans were. And there were far too many possible futures floating around in the Time Stream that it would take her at least another five hundred years to figure out his plans. By then it would be too late for her or anyone else to stop him.

Looking back over the viewing mirrors, he let his eyes stop on the Time Dome that help the Straw Hat pirates Franky and Zoro. He knew this dome was going to be the hardest for them to conceal their identity in with Franky not being register in the database and all. But it all somehow worked out fine for them. They were on the verge of a little scuffle against the one who was running the city they were in but were quickly rescued by a pair that wasn't going to blow the whistle on them. However, he felt heated anger boil inside of his chest when it was revealed their rescuers had the shard they were looking for. He wanted them to take it and leave already. They didn't. They just had a boring discussion on what Neo would want them to do.

"It's sickening how much control that Elemental has over these pirates," Pendulum grumbled. He slumped down into his throne as his eyes scanned over the rest of the pirates. The one called Penguin was just as upset as his captain. Only watching him pound the ground wasn't nearly as exciting as having blood drawn from hitting the tree like his captain did. Still, he kept watching them as they finally loaded up into the submarine he had proved them and took off after a shaky start. His eyes focused in on Robin. She was the Straw Hats' archeologist. She was the smartest of their crew. He speculated that she was going to be one of the firsts to realize they were no longer in the New World. He wasn't worried since there was nothing she or anyone else could do about it.

Next his eyes wondered over to Sanji. All of the pirates were starting to settle into their temporary new lives. He couldn't wait to see how the chief of the Straw Hats handled the food that he had to cook with. His lips curled into a smile when Sanji balked at the bugs he was going to have to use in cooking for the contest. While not as satisfying as seeing the blood, he still enjoyed the look on the cook's face. He figured the blonde man would be the second to arrive back on the Time Dome with the Elemental princess since the cooking contest was in two weeks. He knew for certain that the first one that was going to arrive back to the princess was the reindeer doctor. His eyes went to Chopper's viewing mirror. The reindeer had already integrated himself into the acrobatics in the company and the shard wasn't very far from where they were. It should only take him four to five days to retrieve the shard.

…

 **Author's Notes: Some chapters are going to come out a bit short.**


	14. Into the Domes P7

Into the Domes

Part Seven

Chopper sighed heavily when Pendulum's image faded away from his eyes. He slumped down on the ground with tears gathering in his eyes. "What now? Neo must be so scared. Or she will be when she wakes up. And there's nothing I can do to help her."

He pulled his hat down over his eyes. He cried for a few minutes before shaking his head. He jumped to his hooves. "No! I won't be sad! I will be strong for Neo's sake! I'll find that shard and get back to her as soon as possible!" He looked around his surroundings. "But where is it?" His eyes landed on the monkey. "Oh, yeah. You're supposed to be able to lead me to the shard I need to get. Will you show me where it is?"

The monkey's eyes lit up again. The light poured out of its slits, revealing a map with three dots on it.

"Wow," Chopper said, eyeing the strange letters on the map. "That's some crazy looking map. I hope the others don't have any trouble with locating the shards. I'm not really sure what I'm looking at here."

The monkey pointed to the two dots then pointed to the reindeer.

"Oh? Does that mean one of these dots is me?" Chopper asked, earning a nod from the monkey. "I see. So that mean this other dot with my dot must be you. Then this other dot way over here must be the shard. I wonder how far it really is away from us. It doesn't look like it's all that close, but since I can't understand whatever these strange lines are I don't know. I guess you'll let me know when we get closer to it. For now I have a bigger problem. I'm going to need a ride to the shard. But how do I manage that? I can't let anyone know the real reason I'm here."

Chopper plopped back down on the ground. Sighing again, he looked up at the sky through the thin branches of the trees. The once blue sky was turning several shades of reds and oranges. "It's starting to get dark. I probably won't be able to go anywhere tonight now. I need to find some shelter at least. I don't want to stay out here in the open and possibly become someone's dinner. But where do I go? I don't know this place at all. And the only shelter seems to be those tents over there."

Chopper peaked around the tree he was using as a shield. Some of the people were still roaming around the grounds near the tents. He watched them carefully trying to determine if they were going to be a safe place to go. "They should be nice enough. I mean, they're performers after all. And all those people coming out of the tents seemed happy enough. Surely I can find someone in there that will give me shelter. Or perhaps I can sleep with one of their animals. Assuming their animals are friendly enough. I don't want to get eaten before I can get the shard and make it back to Neo. All right then it's settled. I'll go into the tent and check things out."

Chopper sat back down then to wait for the next showing to start so he could slip inside of the tent unnoticed. During that time he ended up falling asleep. The happy chatters of some families walking into the tents woke him up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before standing up. Peaking around the tree, he watched until he saw a large enough group heading up to the tent's entrance. He and the monkey then rushed up to the group. Standing beside the largest person he could find, he walked along side them until they entered into the tent. Once inside, he slipped off underneath the bleachers. His little heart was pounding in fear of being caught. But no one followed him and his monkey. He waited several more minutes before finally coming out from underneath the bleachers. He looked around. He saw nothing that much out of the ordinary. The tent looked to be the same as the tents back in the New World. The only difference was the people here. They all seemed to have the same colored hair and skin. Only their facial features and body sizes let him tell them apart. "Wow. I don't know if I'd like living were all the people had the same colored hair and eyes. Seems kind of boring." He placed his hooves on his stomach when it rumbled. "That's right. It's been a while since I've eaten anything."

The reindeer then looked around figuring there would be something here that he could eat. Soon his eyes landed on a man carrying around cotton candy. Stars danced in his eyes upon seeing his favorite treat. He rushed over to the man. With his beli pulled out of his pocket, he paused in mid stride when he saw a customer pass the food man money he didn't recognize. His arms dropped to his sides. "I see. I'm in a different place so of course they won't use my money. So what do I do now? I have to eat something. Oh yeah! I'm a pirate! I can just take whatever I want!"

"Since that man can only carry so much there had to be someone else who's making the cotton candy." Chopper looked around until he spotted whom he was looking for off to the side of the tent. He made his way over to the small white vending stand. Looking around he found a cup he could use to distract the man so he could steal him some. When no one was looking, he tossed the cup behind the man. Just as the man turned to see what fell and pick the cup up, he dashed out, grabbed him a stick of cotton candy, and rushed away before anyone could see him. He went back under the bleachers and waited to see if any angry yells were going to happen or if anyone was going to find him. After several minutes, he relaxed. No one was coming for him. And if the man found a stick of cotton candy missing, he didn't show any signs of it.

Chopper plopped down on the floor. Opening his mouth he took a big bit of the fluffy pink cotton. But, instead of the sweet, melt in your mouth sugar he was expecting, the fluffy treat was very sour. His cheeks puckered together as his eyes bulged out of his head. "Yucky! What the heck is this?! It's not cotton candy at all!"

"Of course it's not cotton or candy," a voice said. "What did you think it was?"

"Huh?" Chopper looked to his left to see a young girl squatting beside him. He screamed and fell backwards.

"You're so weird," the girl said. "You must be with the company."

"The company?" Chopper asked as he sat back up. "What do you mean by that?"

"Aana!" an older voice called. "Get back over here! We're heading for our seats now!"

"Coming, Mama!" The girl stood up and skipped out from underneath the bleacher without another word to him.

"That was odd," Chopper said. "I wonder if she was talking about this circus group here."

Suddenly, the lights went out. The crowd erupted into cheers. Chopper wondered out from the bleachers to see what was going on. When he got to where he could see, he found there was a man standing in the middle of the ring with a spotlight shining down on him. The man wasn't wearing the familiar clothes of a ringleader that Chopper was use to seeing. This guy was wearing a more elaborate outfit. With feathers sticking out of the shoulders and sparkly buttons that kept changing colors. "Wow. I've never see clothes like that before."

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" the ringleader said. "Are you ready for the spectacular feast you are about to see?!"

The crowd erupted into a thunderous applauses and sharp cheers and whistles.

"Then prepare yourselves for the best time you have ever had at any company on the Gilly Dome!" the ringleader said just before flashing explosions of glitter appeared around him causing the crowd to cheer more.

"Gilly Dome?" Chopper asked. He pinched off a piece of his treat, forgetting it was sour. His face puckered again at the sourness on his tongue. Tears ran down his furry cheeks in memory of his sweet treat. "So gross."

He let his eyes wondered back to the group preforming in the ring. He watched in awe, as two people seem to be able to blow fire from their fingers. He's seen fire breathers before but he's always seen them fuel in their mouths. Not a single one of them did. He wondered how they managed to pull that off. Next he watched as all of those that were in the ring run off. The lights on the ring lifted up to the two trapeze poles. There were three people in total. Two of them grabbed the bars and started swinging towards each other. After a few swings one of them jumped towards the other, spinning several times as they went before grabbing their partner's hands. The third one finally got on the swing. They did even more amazing tricks on the swings that had the entire audience on the edges of their seats and gasping. They did so many amazing trick that Chopper didn't think should be possible. He felt like he was flying with them and that head could reach out and touch them as they flew back and forth to each other.

A sudden scream pierced through the air and his ears. Choppers eyes widened upon see the smaller of the three trapeze artist falling towards the ground. With a gasp, and without thinking, he transformed into his human form and dashed out into the ring. He got under the fallen boy just in time to keep him from hitting the ground. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Smile and wave to the crowd," the boy said.

"What?" Chopper asked.

"The crowd is confused," the boy said. "We have to let them know I'm okay."

"Oh, okay," Chopper said. Turning his attention to the crowd, he waved and smiled with the boy still hanging in his other arm. Soon the crowd erupted into around of applause and it was over.

"Thank you all for coming!" The ringleader said. "We hope you all had a wonderful time! Thank you all for coming! We will be here through tomorrow! So be sure to come back and see more of our wonderful performances!"

The spotlights all went out just as the main lights started to come back one. The crowd murmured with enjoyment as they started to make their way out of the tent. Chopper turned his attention back down to the boy. He easily noticed the kid was breathing hard, was covered in sweat, and looked like he was flushed since his cheeks were darker than the rest of his skin. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," he said. "Just a little tired that's all."

"Ahote! What the heck do you think you were doing up there?!" a woman demanded as she and a man walked over to them.

"You completely messed up our routine!" the man said.

"I'm sorry," Ahote said through his pants. "I didn't mean to. It won't happen again."

"It better not," the man said. "The people come here to see us preform not mess up."

"Get yourself together before the boss kicks you out of the company," the woman said.

"That's enough!" Chopper snapped. "Can you see he's sick?! He shouldn't even been up that high in his condition!"

"Who the heck are you?" the man asked.

"Don't tell me you're a new comer," the woman said. "We already have one too many newcomers as it is."

"No, I'm not a new comer!" Chopper said. "But I am a doctor!"

"A what?" The woman and man blinked in confusion.

"Hey!" another man yelled. "You three stop messing around! The boss wants all of our unused equipment packed up and put into the wagons!"

"Okay," the man and woman said before walking off.

"Get to work, Ahote!" the second man shouted.

"Okay!" Ahote said. "Well, thanks for you help but I have to get back to work."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Chopper said as the boy took a step away from him.

"I'll be fine. This is…nothing," Ahote said while sluggishly making his way towards the back of the tent.

"Oh man. I can't let him keep walking like that. He needs to lay down and take it easy." Chopper looked down at the monkey now standing beside him. _I know I'm supposed to be looking for the shard, but I can't just turn my back on him. I'm sorry, Neo. I know you will understand. Just hold on a little bit longer. I promise I'll be there as soon as I can._ With that settled, he shrunk back to his normal form and ran in the direction the boy went off in. He passed through a curtain and found several more curtain doors. He peaked inside of each one until he found the boy again. The kid was wiping a wet rag over his face before he started to change his clothes. He eyed the strange clothing the boy now wore. It looked similar to the clothing he was use to seeing only the sleeves and the pant legs were shaped like triangles. When the boy turned his way, he pulled back out into the hall and waited for him to come out. Once he did, he continued to follow after the boy and was leaded outside to where a bunch of wagon huts sitting.

He stood back from the wagons, quietly watching the strange colored people pack up boxed and crates into the wagons. His eyes then landed on several animals that looked like across between a giraffe and a zebra. "What the heck?! What are those things?!" He laughed nervously when his outburst gained some attention from a few of the workers. "Uh, hi. Sorry about that."

The people didn't reply. They just proceeded on their task at hand. Chopper sighed. He then lifted his eyes back up to the boy. The boy was still panting and sweating rather heavily while he picked up a box and pushed it into the back of a wagon. He wasn't sure how old the boy was. He looked to be about ten or eleven years old. In his opinion, that was way too young to do the jobs that he was doing here. He wanted to get the boy to stop and lie down, but got the feeling from their interaction before it wasn't going to be an easy task to complete. He continued to watch the boy while trying to figure out a good way to get the boy to lie down. He shook his head when the boy picked up another box, but dropped it. The kid wiped his forehead on his sleep then tried to pick up the box once more.

Just as he turned back towards the wagon, another circus worker walked by with a box in his arms. The older circus worker shoved the box into the wagon before frowning and narrowing his eyebrows at the boy. "Hurry up, you brat. We don't have all day."

"I know, I know," Ahote replied. Using his knee he lifted up the box into a better position to hold. He walked over to the back of the wagon and lifted the box up to it. But in his sick state the box caught on the edge of the wagon causing both it and the boy to fall to the ground. The incident caused the other workers around to just laugh instead of helping him up to his feet.

"Oh my gosh!" Chopper ran over to the kid. He knelt down next to the boy and placed his hoof on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Ahote huffed as he tried to stand back up.

"No, you're not," Chopper said, checking the boy's forehead. "You have a fever. You really need to lie down and take it easy."

"It's okay." The boy stood up and started to pick up the box again. "I'm use to it all of this work. Beside, I have another performance later tonight."

"That's insane!" Chopper said. "There's no way you can possibly preform like that again! I won't allow it!"

"Really I'll be just fine," Ahote said. He pushed himself to his feet. Picking up the box he tried to put it into the wagon but only managed to catch the box on the edge again and fell to the ground. Chopper transformed back into his human form, grabbed the box, and shoving it into the wagon. The boy looked at him with confusion and seemed to not care about Chopper's transformation. "W-why are you helping me? This isn't your job."

"I know it's not my job. But you're sick and I'm a doctor. I can't let you keep working like this. You just rest now. I'll take care of this. You're just putting these boxes in the back here, aren't you?" Chopper asked. He was glad when the boy didn't argue with him. Within a few minutes he had all the boxes loaded up in the wagon. He turned back to the boy who looked like he was about to fall asleep. He was surprised that the kid hasn't fallen asleep with how sick he looked. "Okay, I'm done now. Let's get you inside. Where do you ride? In the wagon too?"

"That one over there is mine," Ahote pointed to a small nearby wagon hut. "The door's unlocked."

"Okay." Chopper picked the boy up and carried him over to the hut wagon with the monkey following close behind. Opening the door, he found a small bed on the left side and a small table with two small crates around it. He walked over to the bed and immediately laid the boy on the bed. He pulled his backpack off and dug through it until he found the correct medicine for the boy. After he administered the medication he sat back. "I hope this works. I have no idea who or what these people actually are. My medicine might not work on him. I wonder if the medication from Luminous that Law taught me would help him better. I guess I can wait and see how he does with the medicine I gave them then try something else if it doesn't work."

"Hey, Ahote! You inside?" Chopper heard a female voice called out before the door to the hut opened. He turned his attention to her to find a woman, dressed like a gypsy, poking her head in. She had the same cinnamon color skin and black hair as they all did. Both just blinked at each other for a few seconds before she spoke up again. "Uh, who are you? New recruit, eh? I didn't know we had another one outside of Ahote. Well, whatever, just as long as you do your job I'm fine with you being here. Anyway, our meal is about ready. You two should come out and get some before it's gone. We have one more show to do before we're done for the day."

"Wait a minute! I'm not a new recruit! I'm just-" Chopper protested but the woman closed the door before he could finished what he was going to say. He sighed in frustration. "I can get a single word in here."

"It's pretty fast pace around here," Ahote said.

"You're awake," Chopper said, turning his eyes back to the boy. "How are you feeling?"  
"Terrible," Ahote said.

"I'm not surprised with how you look," Chopper said. "So what is this place?"  
"It's an acrobatic company," Ahote said. "We travel all over the Gilly Dome doing performances. And speaking of which, I need to get back out there."

"Hold on," Chopper said. He grabbed the boy's shoulders and pushed him back down to the bed. "You're not going anywhere. You need to rest."

"But I have to preform," Ahote said. "I have a job to do."

"Your only job is to rest right now," Chopper said.

"I have to work," Ahote said. "That's what we do in this company. If you don't pull your weight around here you'll eventually get kicked out of the company."

"You'll get kicked out? That sounds a bit harsh considering you're sick," Chopper said.

"I'm in my trail phase," Ahote said. "I have five more days before I'm accepted full into the company. If I slack off at all during that time I'll get kicked out." He struggled to sit up but only fell back to the bed. "Please, let me go."

"You're not even strong enough at the moment to sit up," Chopper said. "I'm sorry, but you're not going to be preforming in your condition. You almost died earlier."

Ahote closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Chopper remained where he was and watched the boy until his stomach reminded him that he was hungry. Leaving his bag on the bed, he made his way out of the wagon hut. About twenty yards from where he was, he saw a group of the performers gathered around a fire. The woman who had poked her head in before was dipping the meal out of the large black pot and pouring it into bowls before handing them out to the people. "I'm not sure if I should go along with this, but I can't abandon the boy. So I guess for the time being I'll just let them think I'm part of their company. Maybe I can even do Ahote's job so he doesn't get kicked out of here."

He looked down at the monkey, figuring it was going to follow him wherever he went before walking over to the fire. He looked around to see if there was an actual line forming but here wasn't. Everyone was just standing around until they got their bowl. He waited for his turn. He sniffed the air to try and figure out what the meal was. He couldn't really tell or even begin to describe what the woman was cooking. It really didn't smell all that good, but he was hungry enough that he didn't care. Finally, ten minutes later it was his turn to get a bowl from her.

"So what's your name, hon?" the woman asked.

"Tony Tony Chopper," Chopper said. "But people just call me Chopper."

"I'm Viona," Viona said. "Welcome to the company. Since we're leaving this place tomorrow after our last performance we won't have any assigned tasks or performances for you to do."

"Oh, that's okay," Chopper said. "I'll just pitch in wherever I'm needed. I can help Ahote."

"Where is that no good lay about?" Viona asked.

"He's sick," Chopper said. "Please, don't kick him out of this company. He really wants to stay here."

"Oh, relax, hon," Viona said. "I'm not the one who makes those decisions. Besides as long as his assigned work gets done no one's going to throw him out."

"What is his assigned work?" Chopper asked.

"His job today is to feed and water the girabras," Viona said, pointing her ladle in the direction of the animals Chopper saw before.

"So that's what those are," Chopper said.

"Hm?" Viona gave him a curious look. "You've never see girabras?"

"No," Chopper said honestly before realizing he probably shouldn't have. "Ack! I meant that I uh…"

"I see," Viona said. "You must be from another part of Gilly. The girabras aren't common in all the places here."

"That's true. I am from somewhere else," Chopper said with relief. He glanced at the monkey. It was still just staring at him and didn't seem upset at all with how close he came to slipping up. "If it's all right, I'll take care of his job until he feels better."

"I see no problem with it," Viona said. "The girabras get one chunk of food and a full bucket of water after our next performance."

"That's it?" Chopper asked.

"That's it," Viona said. "Now get to eating. Our next performance is in an hour."

"All right," Chopper said. He turned from the woman and walked back over to the wagon. Upon entering into it with the monkey, he sat down on one of the crates by the small table and took a bite of his meal. His cheeks puckered and his eyes bulged out of his head at the explosion of sour on his tongue. "Not more sour stuff."

Still, his growling stomach forced himself to eat it. After he was done he decided to check on his patient and found that his medication wasn't doing the boy much good at all. It was made him even more frustrated until the obvious solution hit him. This boy, who ever he really was, wasn't human at all. So it made sense that human medicine wasn't going to work on him. So he dug through his bag, looking for the Elemental medicine that he learned how to make from Law. "I know it's a bit of a long shot, but maybe Elemental medicine will work on him instead of my human medicine."

He pulled out the correct brown bottle and twisted the lid off. He placed a hoof under the boy's head and lifted him up. "Here, Ahote, drink this."

The boy parted his lips for him. Chopper poured the liquid into the boy's mouth then laid him back down. He put up the medication then sat back and waited to see what happened. He saw no signs of allergic reaction, but he didn't see signs of it helping either. He decided to give it a little more time before making the decision it wasn't doing any good. After all medication took time to work. He left the wagon hut again when he heard people talking and wondering around outside.

"Hey, where's Ahote?" the woman from the trapeze asked.

"He's sick," Chopper said.

"That's what Viona said. So you're the new guy, aren't you?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, I am," Chopper said. "Why?"

"Let's go." The woman grabbed his arm and pulled him off the steps of the wagon.

"What?! Go where?!" Chopper demanded.

"Viona said you're filling in for him," the woman said.

"For his job!" Chopper said.

"I know," she said with a nod. "That's why we're going back to the tent. His job is also on the trapeze."

"Wait a second! I don't know anything about the trapeze!" Chopper said while he tried to desperately get free of her hold. "There's been a misunderstanding!"

"No misunderstanding here," she said. "You said you're going to Ahote's job so you can't back out of it now."

"But I didn't know it meant I had to go up on those ropes!" Chopper wailed. "I've never done it before!"

"Don't worry about it," she said. "You'll get the hang of it real easy."

"No! I! Won't!" Chopper snapped.

"Sure you will," she said. "Lan and I will tell you exactly what you need to do."

"Lan?" Chopper asked.

"He's our other partner," she said. "We've been doing this for years. You won't go wrong with us at your side."

"What are you talking about?!" Chopper demanded. "I've never done this before! I can't just jump in there and pull this off!"

"My name's Purro," Purro said.

"I'm Chopper," Chopper said. "Wait a second! I don't care about that! I don't want to do this!"

"You're a funny little creature," Purro said. "What are you anyway?"

"I'm a reindeer and a pirate!" Chopper snapped then clamped his hooves over his mouth. His eyes dropped down to the monkey that was still following him around. He wondered if that was a bad thing to say or if it was fine. Did reindeers and pirates even exist on this island?

"Reindeer? Never hear of your kind before," Purro said. "But I won't fault you for it. I heard you didn't even know what a girabra was. So I guess that makes us even."

"I guess it does," Chopper said just as they entered into the tent. He noticed that the tent this time was a lot warmer than it was before. He figured it was because everyone was moving around in preparation for their next show. "Look, I know I keep saying this, but I can't do this. I'm a doctor not an acrobat."

"A doctor?" Purro looked down at him. "What's a doctor?"  
"You know a person who helps someone when they're sick," Chopper said. "Don't you have one around here? I think you would since you could get hurt doing the stunts that you do."

"Oh, you mean an expert," Purro said. "We use to have one traveling with us but he passed away a few months ago. The boss just hasn't found anyone he likes enough yet to let them travel with us."

"So what do you do when someone get's hurt or sick?" Chopper asked just as she took them into the changing room where Ahote was earlier.

"The places we stop in usually have at least one expert," Purro said. "So we have them come help when we need it."

"I see," Chopper said.

"Who's that?" a man asked.

Chopper looked to find it was the man who was on the trapeze. So he figure it was safe to assure that he was Lan.

"This is Chopper," Purro said. "He's fill in for Ahote who happens to be sick."

"I see," Lan said. "Well, just do your job and everything will be fine."

"I can't do that because I'm not an acrobat!" Chopper growled.

"It'll be fine," Lan said, turning back to the mirror to apply his make up.

"Here," Purro said sitting Chopper down near a bunch of outfits. "Find something that will fit you. It doesn't matter what. All the outfits match well enough."

Chopper sighed. It looked like he was stuck in doing this whether he wanted to or not. Without much thought he started going through the clothes until he found an outfit that fit him well enough. It made him look like a sparkly flower. He just knew the others would laugh at him for this. He could already hear them laughing and making fun of him.

 _"Hey, Chopper! Nice out fit!" Luffy would say._

 _"You look so cute as a flower!" Usopp would say._

 _"Super cute!" Franky would say._

 _"Who put you in that outfit?" Zoro would ask._

 _"Stop picking on poor Chopper," Sanji would say. "He's just blooming out for a change."_

 _"I think he looks cute," Nami would say._

 _"I agree," Robin would say._

 _"I knew you would sprout out sooner or later," Brook would say._

Chopper sighed again. He was so glad his crewmates weren't here to see him like this. He just wished he wasn't in this mess in the first place. He should have just stayed in the wagon hut and hid from everyone.

"You look so cute in that," Purro said. "Come on over here and I'll put your makeup on while we tell you how the routine goes."

"Fine," Chopper said, walking over to them. "But don't blame me when this blows up in our faces." He sat down on the empty stool and patiently listened to them while Purro applied his makeup. "Wow! That sounds really hard! And really dangerous!"

"It's not," Purro said.

"We do the real work," Lan said. "All you have to do is jump back and forth between the two of us."

"It still sounds dangerous!" Chopper said. "I don't want to do this!"

"We're on in ten!" an unfamiliar voice shouted out.

"What?!" Chopper asked. "So soon?!"

"It's not soon at all," Lan said. "We're not the first two go on. We're during the third act. So we have plenty of time to relax."

"Let's go," Purro said while heading toward the exit.

"I thought you said we could relax!" Chopper said.

"We can," Purro said. "But we have to be at our posts so we don't miss our cue to go on."

"I see," Chopper said. Reluctantly, he hopped of his stool and followed after them. The dressing room area was a lot tighter with everyone inside and some even worn more elaborate costumes than others and they took up a lot of space too. But eventually the duo led him down a curtain hallway to a small crack in the tent. He peaked through it and watched the other performers. He stared at them, entranced by their graceful moves as they jumped, spun, and preformed various other acrobatic moves all over the ring floor.

"Let's go," Purro said.

"Huh?" Chopper blinked and found himself behind pushed out into the ring. "What?! No!"

"You'll be fine," Purro said, guiding him to the pole with that ladder. "Hurry up now. We don't have much time left."

"What?!" Against his will, Chopper found himself climbing up the ladder. He felt himself get dizzy the farther he climbed up it. Before long he found himself standing on the platform. His eyes bulged out of his head when he looked down. "Ack! It's so high!"

"Get on the swing now," Purro said.

"What?! No! I don't want too!" Chopper said. "Neo! Help me!"

"Too late for that," Purro said just before they were spotlighted.

Chopper froze in the bright light. His heart was racing so hard in his chest that he was sure it was going to pop through his skin and drop to the ground that was far below him. He didn't even noticed when Purro picked him up and held him to the bar of the swing. His hooves automatically grabbed on when he felt the bar. Next thing he felt was the wind rushing through his fur. He screamed upon realizing he was swinging through the air. "No! I don't want to do this!"

"Jump to me on the next swing." He heard Lan say.

"What?! You can't be serious!" Chopper said on his swing back. He swung back towards the man. "No! I really, really don't want to do this! I want to see my friends again before I die!"

"Jump! Now!" Lan said.

"Waaaa!" Chopper released his bar. His body hurled towards Lan's hands. Grabbing onto the man, he held on as they swung backwards.

"You're doing great," Lan said.

"Great," Chopper said through his dizziness. Before he could get his brain to register anything around him, he felt himself flying back through the air. He looked to notice that Lan had tossed him towards Purro. He had no idea how long their performance was. All he could feel was his body being tossed back and forth through the air, sometimes spinning like a top before he was suddenly back on the platform with Purro and somewhere beneath him was a thunderous applause for what they had done. He wasn't sure what they really had done. And he really didn't want to know. He just wanted to get back down to the ground where he knew he was safe. Unfortunately, his body was too queasy to for him to walk down the ladder. He had to relay on Purro to carry him down on her shoulder. Once at the bottom, he hopped off her shoulder and kissed the ground multiple times. "I love you ground! I never want to ever leave you again!"

"You're a funny little thing," Lan said. "But you did really great for your first time."

"Are you insane! That was completely scary!" Chopper growled. "I never ever want to do it again!"

"Well, you have to do it twice tomorrow is you're doing Ahote's job," Lan said with a laugh before he walked off.

"He's correct. You did a great job," Purro said as she followed after Lan. "Tomorrow will be even better."

"What?! It will not!" Chopper said. "What's wrong with these people?! Oh, yeah! I need to go check on Ahote!"

Chopper made a mad dash to the changing room. He rubbed off his makeup then ditched his sparkling clothes and put on his regular clothes before dashing out of the tent. He ran all the way over to Ahote's wagon hut and entered it. He walked over to the bed and found that the boy was sleeping peacefully. Reaching out to touch his forehead, he also found that his fever had come down a little bit as well. "That's good. It looks like the Elemental medication is working just fine. I'm glad. I was worried that there might be some bad side affects by using an unfamiliar medication on you."

"Got to work," Ahote said in his sleep before rolling over on his side. "Have to feed…the…"

"Oh, yeah! I have to feed the girabras!" Chopper rushed back towards the door and left the small wagon hug. He ran over to the makeshift pens for the creatures and looked around for their food. He found it inside of a crate sitting near the pens. Remember what he was suppose to do, he pulled off one block for each of the creatures and placed it on the ground for them since it didn't look like they had any kind of dish for them. He then ran off to find a water hose or whatever they used to water the animals. He hoped that he didn't have to carry their buckets of water and was very glad to find that they had their own version of a water hose. He grabbed it, turned on the water, and headed back to the pens. Sticking the end of the hose in the bucket, he waited for it to fill before moving on to the next one. "Boy, this job is really a lot of hard work. I don't see how anyone would want to do it." He turned his attention to the girabra when it spoke to him. "Oh, I can understand you. I wasn't so sure about that. I'm glad. Really? You've been here for over thirty years. You love it that much, huh? I don't think I could do a job like this day in and day out. But I'm glad you enjoy it. Neo would also be glad to hear that you like your job so much. Neo's a friend of mine. She really loves animals and always makes sure they're happy and healthy when they work at jobs like this. I can't wait to see her again. Yeah, we're kind of separated right now. I can't say why thought. I just hope she's safe and warm."

Chopper looked up at the dark sky above him. He felt very lonely without his friends around him. He shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. He knew they would reunite soon. All he had to do was get that shard. He glanced at the monkey. He needed to check the map again and see where this company was heading next. Maybe he could just ride with them. They did say they were leaving tomorrow. He shivered when he remembered that he was suppose to do two more performances tomorrow as well. "Ugh! Maybe I shouldn't stay around this company. I should just wonder off while I have the chance."

Chopper moved on to the next bucket until they all were filled up. He then put the hose up and headed back to Ahote's wagon hut. The boy was still asleep when he entered. He felt a bit guilty for wanting to leave while he was still sick. He wasn't sure what he should do. With a sigh he walked over to the table and sat down. He sat there until he spotted a map on the wall that he didn't notice before. Jumping up, he pulled it off and laid it down on the table. There were red circles on certain places on the map, a few of them crossed out with a red X. There were also little red arrows leading to each circle. "I wonder if this is the route they're taking. And, for some reason, it looks kind of familiar. Oh, yeah. Hey, monkey guy, can you show me that map thing again?"

The monkey moved closer to him. Its eyes lit up and revealed the map. Chopper looked back and forth between the two maps and ultimately came to the conclusion that this company was heading in the same direction he was. "I'm still not completely sure about staying here though. I really don't want to get tossed around by those two again. But I can't leave Ahote until I know he's going to be fine. And I still have to get the shard. This company might be my only way of getting to the shard. They might not be the best of company but they might be the only ones going that way for a long time. Or the next people I meet might be worse off than these guys. I wonder what I should do. The others wouldn't have this hard of a time making a decision. Luffy would actually love being here. He wouldn't hesitate at all getting on those swings again."

He looked at the lifeless monkey. "Why did you send me here? I'm not the type for doing this kind of thing. I'm only good for being a doctor. You could have sent me help. Anyone would have been a good choice. I really hate being alone. It reminds me too much of my past."

A few minutes of time passed by before he heard a knock on the door. Brushing his arm over his watering eyes, he walked over to the door and opened it. Standing there was a man he didn't recognize. He was slightly heavy set and about six foot tall. "Um, hello."

"You must be the new guy," he said.

"Um, sort of," Chopper said.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," he said, holding out his hand. "I'm the owner and the ringleader of this place. You can call me Master or Boss."

"I'm Chopper," Chopper said, not feeling right about calling this man Master or Boss.

"I hear you're taking care of Ahote while he's sick," Master said.

"Yes, I am," Chopper said. "He's sleeping right now. Did you want to see him?"  
"Nope," Master said. "I just wanted to come by and meet you. I like to meet all of my new cast members."

"Well, I…"

"You did a great job out there today," Master said. "So what made you decide to join the company?"

"Oh, well, I was kind of thrown into it," Chopper said, sneaking a sideways glance at the monkey behind him.

"I see." Master nodded. "Your family kicked you out, did they? That's such a shame. Well, just to let you know, it's no picnic around here either. We work long and hard hours and have even longer and harder travel times between our performances. And I'm sure you've heard of my policy by now. If you keep up with your work, then you can stay. But if you slack off and do nothing, you won't be allowed to stay any longer. I don't tolerate people who just want a free ride."

Chopper felt himself twitch. He basically wanted a free ride to the shard. At least he now had a cover story for himself. He could pretend that his family kicked him out of their home so he ran away to join this company.

"So what's your specialty?" Master asked.

"I'm an expert," Chopper said. "And I'm really good with animals."

"Well, it's good to finally have another expert in our company," Master said then his voice became serious. "But I don't like strangers messing with my family."

"Family?" Chopper asked.

"So don't you dare do anything to them unless I approve of it. You have to prove to me that you're worthy of taking care of my family," Master said with narrowed eyebrows. "I don't mind much that you're taking care of Ahote since I don't consider him part of the family. So we can use him as a test run."

"A test run?!" Chopper asked, feeling anger build up in his chest. "How can you say that?!"

"Because it's true," Master said. "Just take care of him and continue to do Ahote's job until he feels better. We'll find a place for you soon enough. It probably won't be until the next show we have in the next town. So you'll have about four more days to prove yourself."

"You want me to prove myself in four days?" Chopper asked. "How is that even possible?"

"That's your problem. I have to go now," Master said as he walked away. "Nothing ever gets done without me around."

"He's so mean," Chopper said, closing the door. "How could anyone want to work for that guy? I'm glad I'm not going to be here for very long. I don't think I'll be able to handle this place." He walked over to the table and looked at the map again. "I wonder how long it'll take to get to this next place. I guess I should wait and ask Ahote when he wakes up."

…

 **Double chapters from now on so I can get back to my other fics.**


	15. First Arrival

First Arrival

Neo sighed as she plucked another weed from the plot. Her entire body was begging her for sleep. But she just couldn't do it. Having been on this Doom for four and a half days, almost five days, she still couldn't sleep very well. She would be lucky to get two hours of sleep before a bad dream, not a nightmare, would wake her up. Sometimes she would just wake up without any kind of dream. And she was only getting about thirty to forty five minute naps a couple times a day. It wasn't enough though. While she was sleeping, she wasn't resting.

"Out! Out!" Celeste chirped.

Neo looked over at the orange sprite. The little thing was stubbornly tugging on a weed that was at least three times her size. Giddiness bubbled up inside of her but quickly faded away. There was no way she could be happy. Not until her family was back with her.

"Princess," Velocity called softly. "You've been out here for three and a half hours. You should go inside and rest."

"Whew." Elian brushed the back of his arm over his sweaty forehead. "It is rather warm today. We should schedule a small shower for later."

Neo flittered her eyes to the other two. All four of them had at least a little dirt on them from tending to the gardens. Celesta was the only one practically covered from head to toe though. She said, "I'm all right."

Velocity sighed. Moving closer to Neo, she said, "Please, Princess, it's not good for you or your baby to keep doing this."

"I know." Neo placed her hand on her stomach, tenderly cradling the child growing inside of her. The touch also reminded her that it's been days since she last had a shower and was still wearing her black dress. She figured she probably smelled right now. She also knew that the sprites would be too nice to say so. Still, she should probably take a bath or shower now. It would most likely help relax her enough to get some restful sleep. "All right. I'll take a bath. Then I'll try to get some sleep."

"Thank you, Princess," Velocity said with a small smile.

Neo pushed herself to her feet. Brushing the dirt off her body, she headed towards the building. It was a lot warmer than she thought it was. The inside was about as warm as the outside was. She headed up the stairs just as Elian said, "I'll adjust the temperature for the dome. It'll cool down in no time."

"Thanks, Elian," Velocity said, following Neo up the stairs with Celesta.

"Bath time!" Celesta sang. "Bath time!"

"Make sure the water isn't too hot!" Elian called out just as they reached the next level.

"Must you sound like our mother?" Velocity cried back. "I know the princess can't be in very hot water!"

"I was just reminding you," Elian said.

Velocity scoffed. "That boy. He's always so…so…parental."

"He's sweet," Neo said.

"Yeah, I suppose he is." Velocity pushed open Neo's temporary bedroom door. "But if you tell him I said that…"

"I won't," Neo said.

"Bath!" Celeste flew over to the bathroom and disappeared in it.

Velocity and Neo followed at a slower place. Once they had entered, the little sprite was already stripping her clothes off. Velocity huffed. Crossing her arms, she said, "Hold it, Speedy. You better wash that dirt off before climbing into the bath."

"Okay." Celeste pouted.

Neo agreed with Velocity. She stepped over to the sink to wash the remaining dirt off of her. Behind her, Velocity turned on the water to the tub. She listened to the water running. Her mind flashed back to one of the first baths she had on the sub with Law after they were married.

 _Neo was sitting in the hot bath she had created with her crystals. She had lost track of time so she had no idea how long she had been inside of here._

 _"How long are you planning on staying in here?" Law asked as he walked into the room._

 _Neo hummed. "I don't know. Until I feel like getting out?"_

 _"I never will understand why you women like soaking for so long in the bath," Law said, sitting down on the edge of the tub._

 _"I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm nature," Neo said, lifted a foot out of her water. "I'm in my natural habitat here. It's normal for me to linger."_

 _"That's a lousy excuse," Law said, smirking._

 _Neo blinked at him. Her lips curled into a smile when she peaked inside of his mind. "Oh, so that's why. You're having a lot of naughty thoughts about me."_

 _"I'm your husband," Law said. He slipped his hand into the water, gliding it up the inside of her thigh until he reached his destination. His smirk grew wider when she tired to bite back a moan of pleasure and failed._

 _"Ah, Law!"_

 _"Yes?"  
"Stop that," Neo said through gritted teeth._

 _"Not going to happen," Law said, making her squirm._

 _"Wh-what are you doing?" Neo asked. "Are you trying to…" Her face flushed._

 _"About time, my naïve little lover." Law retracted his hand. Standing up he removed his clothes before climbing in. He captured her lips with a deep kiss while his hands roamed over her wet and hot body. "Now let me show you a new way to have some fun."_

 _Neo squealed again when Law's lips found hers while his hands reached his destination again._

Neo sighed. Law had taught her so many things, some sexual others not. Now that memory seemed like so long ago. It's only been a few days since they had been separated, but to her it felt like three entire lifetimes had passed. She wondered how much longer she was going to have to endure this.

"Weeee!" Celesta squealed.

Neo looked down to see the young sprite standing underneath the running water.

"It's ready when you are, Princess," Velocity said.

Neo shut off the sink water. Reluctantly, she took off Law's hat and placed it down on the sink before stripping out of her clothes. She then stepped into the tub and sank down into the water.

"Bath time!" Celeste did several cartwheels in the air before diving into the water with a plop. A drop shot up and hit Velocity in the face.

"Celeste! Will you stop joking around like that?!" Velocity demanded.

"Bath fun time! And Velo no fun! Velo no fun!" Celeste chirped while splashing water up at Velocity.

"Cut that out!" Velocity demanded again. "So how's the water? Is it too hot?"

"It's fine," Neo replied as she leaned back against the tub. "The water is just right. Thank you."

"Just right! Just right!" Celeste sang as she swam around in the tub.

"I'll take your clothes and get them cleaned for you," Velocity said. "Call if you need anything. I'll be back soon."

"All right," Neo said. She relaxed against the tub, listening and watching as Celesta continued to splash around in the water.

A small knock came, followed by Elian saying, "How's it going in there? Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine," Neo said. "Thank you."

"All right," Elian said. "I'll be right out here if you need anything."

"Okay." Neo settled back down in the water. She stayed there for about an hour before finally finishing up and pulling herself out. With a towel wrapped around her body and Law's hat back on her head, she stepped out into the bedroom just in time to see Elian leaving. Wondering over to the closet, she dug through it, wishing she had some of Law's clothes with her. Now dressed in the oddly shaped clothes, she headed for the door.

"We have a drink shimmering for you," Velocity said. "It'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Thank you." Neo wondered over to the still open doors. Taking Law's hat off her head, so it wouldn't get any wetter than it already was, she leaned against the doorframe and watched the dome ceiling darken. Distant thunder rumbled while the fake wind blew through the sphere. The dome and house had cooled down considerably. She was glad she chose a long sleeve shirt to wear. But the material was thin. It wasn't going to do much against her pregnancy chills. While waiting for her drink, she fiddled with Law's ring and wondered how her friends were doing.

…

Chopper moaned from all of the aches that now plagued his body.

"Does it hurt that bad or are you just being dramatic?" Ahote asked from his bed.

"I'm not being dramatic," Chopper said. He turned his head on the table to look at the young man he was with. He was glad that the Elemental medicine had worked on the boy. He just wished he had some that would work on him. If he never saw another circus like this again it would be too soon. The second they reached their destination, he was going to disappear, and disappear fast. He didn't want to take the chance of lingering around and get pulled into another show. Enough was enough.

"I don't suppose you're going to stay with us," Ahote said.

"No, I'm sorry," Chopper said. "But I really need to get going once we arrive at the next town. The wagon hit a rock. The two riding inside jumped before slamming back down, Chopper on the crate while Ahote had a softer landing on his bed. The reindeer groaned at the new pain. He hoped they would make it soon. He really wanted to get back to Neo. Not only to see how she was doing, but also to ask her to heal his body. In an attempt to distract himself from the still two hour ride to their next destination, he struck up a conversation now that the boy was fully awake. "So why did you decide to join a troupe like this?"

"Because it's a lot better than it was living back home," Ahote replied, his fingers clutching his blanket.

"What do you mean by that?" Chopper asked.

"My mama remarried last year to this jerk with two kids of his own, both girls. This entire family is very well know and very wealthily from their business transactions and what not," Ahote explained. "They always wanted me and my sister to be all prim and proper. We were never allowed to play and have fun since _they_ arrived. It was all manners all the time. My sister didn't mind much. She was being treated like a princess since she was the youngest out of all of us. I was being smothered to death by all the neatness. And he wasn't the nicest, neither were his kids. I would clean my room only to have them come through and trash it. I'd get in trouble then. He's even hit me a couple of times, saying I was disrespecting him. My mom always took his side. I really needed to get away from them. So when this troupe came to town, I joined them."

"I'm sorry that you went through all of that. It must have been terrible if you ran away from it. But I don't see how this place is much better than your home," Chopper said. "They seem rather cold to you. They haven't been very nice to me either."

"I know they seem uncaring at first. But, in fact, they really are very nice. We all have similar backgrounds. We all ran from something or someone. All looking for freedom from whatever we were dealing with. Most of the time it's the feeling of being unwanted. They have come to form their own family here within the troupe. Master may come off the coldest of them all, but he loves his family very much and takes good care of us all. They all just have a tight bond like a real family should. They warm up to others fairly easy. They just want to make sure you'll do your job and not slack off and all." Ahote looked up at Chopper, his hands loosening on his blanket. "What about you? What are you running away from? Who hurt you?"

"I'm not running away from anything," Chopper replied. "At least not anymore. But I can understand why you'd want to run away. I use to be hurt by people as well because I was so different from them."

"Then why are you in this troupe?"

"I'm not really. I only become a temporary part of your troupe by accident. You were sick and it's my job to care for those who are. I didn't mean to tag along with you all, but I was heading in the same direction you all were anyway," Chopper said. "So, in a way, we're helping each other out in the end. I'm grateful for the lift."

"I see. Then what are you looking for?" Ahote said. "Maybe I can help."

"Well, I, uh…" Chopper glanced at his little monkey companion. It was standing off in the corner and hadn't moved from that spot unless Chopper left the little hut. "I can't really answer that."

"Why not?"

"I know it sounds strange, but I can't answer that either. I'm sorry." Chopper dropped his eyes to the floor.

"It's all right," Ahote said. Chopper pulled his eyes back up to Ahote. The boy was smiling at him. "You helped me keep my job and get better from that illness. If you say you can't tell me what you're looking for then I won't press it. I am grateful for your help. And I'm glad I can return the favor."

"Ah shucks! You don't have to thank me you jerk!" Chopper blushed.

After that the two settled into some pleasant conversation. Ahote told him all about the troupe he was in and Chopper, carefully, told Ahote about his friends and explained more on his own painful past.

…

Neo had just finished her drink and placed it down on the table in front of her when a sickening familiar pressure appeared in the room. And like the times before, the sprites dove for cover behind the couch. She sat patiently for him to appear, adjusting the cover over her legs. Summoning all of her royal tones and postures and whatever else she needed to face him again.

Pendulum appeared on the opposite side of the table. This time he had a chair with him. His hands were folded in his lap. His lips curled into a smirk. He said, "Good afternoon, Princess of the Elementals. How are you doing today?"  
Neo glared at him. She knew he already knew how she was doing.

Pendulum chuckled. "Don't worry. You'll have some familiar company soon enough."

Neo's heart skipped a beat. Her brain automatically thought Law was coming back. Then reality came crashing back to her. Pendulum said that she could go see Law if she behaved. There's no reason for him to say that if Law was going to come back now. It had to be someone else. But who? It didn't matter. She would now be with one of her loved ones.

"While we wait for them, how about we play a little game?" Pendulum asked.

Neo's eyes rose. She so badly wanted to lash out at him that he was already playing a game with his life and he was going to lose. But she didn't want him to take away her chance to see Law. She frowned when he snapped his fingers and a chess like board appeared on the table with transparent symbols for pieces that she didn't recognized. She never was good at chess.

"I'm sure this looks familiar to you," Pendulum said. "It's basically the same thing as your game of chest." He smiled. "Let's begin, shall we? I'll explain as we go along."

…

Chopper was in the middle of telling Ahote about the time they dashed into the heart of the Navy to rescue Robin. He was standing on the small table, making dramatic movements of his arms and legs while talking. The sudden stop of the wagon sent him tumbling to the floor. Sitting up, he adjusted his hat. "What was that?"  
"Looks like we've stopped," Ahote said. He glanced over the window. The scenery outside had stopped moving. "We arrived too soon. I was hoping to spend more time with you. Do you really have to go? I like having you around."

"I'm sorry," Chopper said, standing up. "I have to go. Neo's waiting for me."

"I understand," Ahote said, his eyes dropped to the floor.

Chopper could immediately tell the boy was sad. And, as bad as he felt about leaving his new friend, he knew he couldn't say. "Don't be sad. We might be able to meet again some day."

"Perhaps." Ahote shrugged.

"Ahote, are you sure you're happy here?" Chopper asked.

"Of course I am!" Ahote looked up at him with a light glare.

"All right then," Chopper said. "But remember this, if you get tired of living here, you can always go home."

"No way!" Ahote scoffed. "I'm not ever going back to that place!"

"Maybe." Chopper shrugged. "But you always have the option of going home. I know your mom and sister would be happy to see you."

"Yeah right," Ahote mumbled.

"I'm sorry I have to go," Chopper said, pulling on his backpack. "I really would have like to seen you preform when you weren't sick. I bet you're really good at it."

"I suppose I'm good enough," Ahote said, his cheeks flushing. "I wish you could watch me too. But we won't preform until tomorrow. We have to get our tents set up. You could just stay and leave tomorrow."

"I'm sorry," Chopper said. "I have to leave as soon as I can. I don't want to get roped into another acrobatic performance. I'm not cut out for this kind of life."

"I understand. Everyone's not meant to preform" Ahote nodded with a forced smile. "I'm glad I got to meet you. And thanks again for your help."

"Don't mention it." Chopper waved goodbye as he headed for the door with the monkey following him. Peaking out, he made sure no one was close enough to catch him running off. He already had people assume he was joining the troupe. That was too much as it was. When he found everyone was just getting out of their own wagons, he jumped from the stairs and ran off into the near by forest. Tucking himself behind tree, he listened to his heart pounding in his chest before carefully peaking out to see if anyone saw him. A relieved sigh left him when no one noticed his departure. "That was close. I was so worried I was going to get caught and stuck there." He looked at the monkey. "So show me the map again. Let's see how far we are away from the shard.

The monkey formed the holographic map upon request.

"Well, it looks like it's not all that far from here. Or I at least hope it's not far." Chopper studied it before looking around the forest. It was rather dense with the weeds and bushes grown up to at least one forth the size of the trees. But with his little body he should be able to slip through things easily enough. So he headed off. "Let's get going. I want to find that shard before it gets dark."

Chopper's hoofs crunched on the organic shaped leaves. He pushed through hair like vines, the smell was sharp in his nose. It was an awkward smell that he couldn't place or describe. The only thing he knew for sure was he didn't like it. He was ready to find the shard and get out of here. Glancing over at the map the monkey still had out, he kept a close eye on it so he didn't stray. Finally, the dots were all piled on top of each other. He looked around but didn't see anything that looked like a mirror. "Well, it should be right here. I wonder why I can't see it. Oh! Wait! It must be under something!"

He then kneeled down and started to throw vines, grass, and leaves out of the way until a piece of mirror with nothing reflecting in it appeared under the fallen leaves. It was almost twice as big as he was with jagged edges. But he didn't care. He grabbed the shard and started jumping around in excitement. "Yes! I have it! I found it! I can go see Neo now! I can leave this terrible place! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

In all of his excitement, he didn't even notice the monkey moving closer to him. He didn't even notice the monkey reaching up and pulling the shard out of his hooves. All he knew was he was extremely happy to finally found it. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and found he was no longer in the forest but standing outside of a clock shaped house. His eyes ran up the house. "Wow. What is this place? Where did that forest go?"

His eyes continued to go up until they landed on the grey sky above him. Leaning too far back, he lost his balance. His arms spun in an attempt to keep his balance but he fell anyway.

…

Neo sighed when Pendulum beat her again for the ninth time in the past two hours. This version of chess seemed to be just as bad as their version of chess. She wasn't good at either.

"Well, it's been fun, Princess of the Elementals," Pendulum said. "But it's time for me to part with you for now."

"What?" Neo looked up at him.

"And remember our deal. Behave and you'll get to see your lover very soon," Pendulum said before disappearing.

"I think this is the longest he's ever stayed here," Velocity said as they came up from behind the couch.

"Hm?" Elian turned towards the doors. "Did anyone hear someone yelling just now?"

"New guest?" Celeste tilted her head.

"Do you think it's one of my friends?" Neo jumped up from the couch. She stared at the doors, wondering who was here.

"There's only one way to find out," Velocity said when Neo didn't move. "It has to be one of them. No one else can come here."

Then Neo sensed it. It was Chopper. She broke for the doors. Shoving them open she found the reindeer laying on the ground. "Chopper!"

"Huh?" Chopper lifted his head up. His eyes instantly filled with tears upon seeing his blue haired friend. He jumped to his hooves and ran to her. Her name was on his lips as he flew towards her. "Neo! Neo! Neo! Neo!"

"Chopper!" Neo held out her arms for him, allowing the little reindeer to dive into them. She held him tightly to her chest. "You're here! You're really here! I'm so glad you are safe! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm glad you are safe as well," Chopper cried. He scanned his eyes over her body. "I'm okay. I'm more worried about you. Are you injured? He didn't hurt you, did he? How's your baby?"

"We're fine. As fine as we can be considering everything that's happen," Neo said. "But he hasn't touched us at all."

"I'm so glad!" Chopper said with a huge sigh of relief. "I still need to check you over and see how your blood pressure is doing." He looked around. "Have the others arrived yet?"

"No. You're the first to arrive," Neo said. "The only other ones that are here are the Time Sprites."

"The Time Sprites?" Chopper blinked. "What are those things?"

"Those _things_ would be us," Velocity said.

"What?!" Chopper shrieked when he saw the three sprites hovering just behind Neo's shoulder. "How the heck are bugs able to talk?!"

"This coming from a talking animal," Elian said.

"Animal! Animal! Animal!" Celeste sang.

"Where are we?" Chopper asked. "What's going on?"

"We're in the Time Stream," Neo said.

"The what?" Chopper tilted his head.

"I guess we have a lot to talk about," Neo said. Thunder rumbled above. She glanced up, not realizing the rain had stopped when she ran out of here. It looked like it was about to start again. She headed back inside. "We should talk inside."

"Okay," Chopper agreed.

Neo entered back into the house. The sprites closed the door behind her while she sat back down on the couch. Keeping Chopper firmly in her hold, she told him everything that happened to her since she arrived here. Once she was finished, Chopper climbed off her lap. As he check her blood pressure, he told her what happened to him. She summoned her solar crystal to heal the pain she knew was in his body. "You could have gotten hurt. I'm so sorry, Chopper."

"This isn't your fault, Neo," Chopper said.

"Yes, it is." Neo tried brushing away her tears. "Pendulum went after me."

"Don't say that, Neo," Chopper said. "He took all of us."

"He's right, Princess," Velocity said. "This isn't your fault at all."

"Please calm down for your baby's sake," Elian said.

"I know." Neo took slow deep breaths, getting her emotions back under control.

"It seems like Pendulum is keeping everyone in the dark about his plans or whatever it is he's doing," Elian said.

"Plans!" Celeste said. "Pendumdum stupid!"

"So where is the shard you found?" Velocity asked. "Do you have it with you?"

"I forgot all about that." Chopper looked at his hooves then around for the monkey. "I had it a few minutes ago when I was still in the forest. That monkey thing seems to have disappeared as well. Maybe it has it?"

"I assume then that it went back to Pendulum seeing as it completed it's mission." Elian crossed his arms. "That must mean that those monkeys have the ability to travel through the Time Stream without the help of the Time Spheres."

"How could that be possible?" Velocity asked. "From what the doctor said, that monkey was just a machine."

"Monkey! Monkey! Monkey!" Celeste cheered as she did cartwheels over the back of the couch. "Silly little monkey!"

"Is she all right?" Chopper asked.

"She's fine," Neo replied. "She's just a bit…"

"Luffy like?" Chopper offered.

"Yeah." Neo nodded with a very small smile.

"Wait a second." Chopper turned back to the sprites. "How could it have been the monkeys? It wasn't them that attacked us on the beach. It was some kind of fluid thing. None of our attacks could stop it. Nothing would work on it. Not even Neo's crystals or Luffy's Haki."

"I don't know what else he could have that would bring you here," Velocity said.

"I'm drawing a blank too," Elian added.

"Blank," Celeste chirped. "Blank."

"Then we have no choice but to wait for the others to return," Neo said. "They might figure something out while they're gone."

"I'm sorry, Neo," Chopper said. "I wish there was something I could have done to stop that thing. Then you'd still be with Law."

Neo reached up and touched Law's hat. She shook her head and hugged him. "Don't apologize, Chopper. This wasn't your fault. I know that they'll be here eventually. And Pendulum said that he would take me to Law if I behaved."

"I'm worried about that," Chopper said.

"I am too," Elian said. "And I wanted to talk to you, Princess, about that."

"What for?" Neo looked up at the sprite.

"Since we have no idea what Pendulum is up to," Elian said, "I'd like to put a protection spell on your baby."

"A protection spell?" Neo asked. "What would that do?"

"It'll put a protective shield around your baby and protect it if you have to fight," Elian said.

"My crystals already do that," Neo said.

"I understand," Elian said. "Just consider this extra protection."

"Well…" Neo bit her lip.

"Maybe you should," Chopper said, gaining Neo's attention. "You clearly trust these three. And your crystals do have their limits."

"I don't know," Neo said. "Law might not like this."

"Princess, I promise this is a safe spell," Elian said. "It won't hurt you or your baby."

Neo thought about it. It might not be a bad idea so she agreed. "All right. What do I need to do?"

"Just relax and show me your stomach," Elian said.

Neo fiddled with the end of her shirt before slowly lifting it up. She watched Elian carefully as he floated down to her.

"This won't hurt a bit," Elian said.

Neo nodded. She and Chopper watched as Elian placed his hands on her stomach. A blue glow emanated from his hands and entered into her skin. A few seconds later, the glow faded.

"There." Elian flew backwards. "All done."

"Thank you," Neo said, lowering her shirt back down. Her eyes dropped to Chopper when his stomach growled.

"Guess I'm hungry," Chopper said, blushing.

"Elian, Velocity, will you get him something to eat?" Neo asked.

"Of course, Princess," Elian said, heading towards the kitchen.

"You should eat as well." Velocity followed her brother with Celeste tailing behind.

"You are going to eat, aren't you?" Chopper asked when Neo didn't move. "I can tell easily enough that you haven't been sleeping."

"Sorry," Neo whispered.

"Don't be," Chopper said. "I understand. But I do want you to eat right now and then I want you to take a nap."

"I…" Neo paused.

"What is it?"

"I need to see Law," Neo said.

"But how?" Chopper asked.

"I'll project myself to him," Neo said.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Neo," Chopper said. "I won't be able to protect you if Pendulum comes back."

"Chopper, please," Neo pleaded. "I can't do this…I just need a minute. I need to see that he's really fine." She placed her hand on her stomach. "For our baby…I'll rest after that."

Chopper sighed. He really wasn't sure about this. Pendulum could come back at any point in time. But then, if Pendulum really wanted to hurt Neo he had plenty of times to do that. "Okay, Neo. We'll eat first. Then you can go see Law as long as you promise to take a nap after that."

"I promise." Neo nodded.

"Then let's eat," Chopper said.

Neo picked him back up and took him into the kitchen. Instantly they were met by sweet smells from what the sprites were cooking.

"It smells so yummy," Chopper said, sniffing the air. It made his stomach rumble more and drool to leak down his furry chin.

"Didn't you eat where you were?" Neo asked, sitting down.

"Yes, I ate," Chopper said. "But all of their food was sour. It tasted terrible. I didn't like it."

"You poor baby," Neo said. "Well, you'll get good food now."

"I hope so. It smells so great," Chopper said, his stomach growling louder.

Elian chuckled. "It'll be ready in a minute."

Neo and Chopper passed the time with idle talk. It wasn't long after that when the food was sat down on the table.

Chopper looked over the strange substances before him. "What is all this stuff?"  
"It's the food they have here," Neo said. "I know it looks strange compared to what we eat back home, but it's really good."

"All right," Chopper said. Picking up a spoon he reached out and scooped up an unidentifiable dark grey mush. Sniffing it cautiously before putting it in his mouth. His eyes lit up at the sweet flavor dancing over his tongue. "Wow! It's so good! Way much better than that sour stuff!"

"Glad to hear it," Velocity said.

"Eat as much as you want," Elian said, ignoring Celeste as she dove into some jello like stuff. "We have plenty."

"Thank you! That was so good!" Chopper said when he was finished.

"You sure ate a lot," Velocity said looking at the almost licked clean dishes.

"Was the food really that bad there?" Neo asked.

"It was," Chopper said. "I was having cotton candy withdrawals."

"You poor thing," Neo said heading back into the living room with Chopper still in his arms.

"I guess you want to go see Law now," Chopper said.

"I do." Neo nodded and sat down on the couch.

"I still don't think you should do it, but go ahead," Chopper said. "I know it will help you to see him."

"Thank you, Chopper," Neo said. She kissed his nose before setting him down on the couch. She shifted her position to find a comfortable spot. Once she was settled, she closed her eyes and searched out for Law.

"What Pretty Princess doing?" Celeste asked as she hovered in front of Neo.

"She's projecting herself to Law," Chopper said.

"How can she do that?" Elian asked.

"We don't know," Chopper said. "All we know is that it has to do with their bond and her magic. The first time it happened was just an accident. She had pulled Law's spirit, or something, to her when she was in danger and needed his comfort. With a few practice sessions she they were able to find out that she could also project herself to him."

"It's amazing what she can do," Velocity said.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her until I returned," Chopper said.

"It was our pleasure," Velocity said. "She's a very lovely person."

Chopper nodded in agreement before settling into watching Neo until she came back.

…

Law, wiping down a table, swallowed a threatening growl when a child threw a pile of mush and hit him on the cheek. In the five days that they have been here he's been pelted with food, spit upon by kids, hit on by the females here, had boiling water dumped on his legs, scorched his hands on hot plates and dishes, and has just about lost his mind. He was ready to leave or kill just about everyone on this dome. Which ever came first, he didn't care. He couldn't figure out how Nami was handling all of this.

Glancing over at the orange haired woman, he found she was once again flirting with a couple male serpents. He also noticed the woman navigator slip her hand into their pockets and pulled out their wallets then returned them when she was finished. He sighed. At least they weren't going without supplies. He turned back to finish wiping down the table and paused. His eyes widened and he could feel the color draining from his face when he saw her. "Neo…"

 _"Law." Tears poured down her cheeks._

Law stepped around the table. He was on the verge of hugging her when he remembered that no one else could see her. They've already drawn enough attention to themselves while being here. He didn't need them to think he was insane for hugging thin air. Giving her a signal to follow him, he headed over to Nami. Grabbing her he pulled her away from the serpents.

"Hey!" Nami protested. "I was busy!"

"Neo's here," Law whispered just low enough so only she would hear here.

"What? Where?" Nami looked around.

"She's using Projection," Law said.

"Oh, right." Nami brought her eyes back to Law.

"She's right beside me. Keep an eye on my tables. I'm going around back so I can talk to her." Law walked off before Nami could reply. Entering into the kitchen, he ignored all of the clanking dishes and sizzling meat and went right through the back door. Once they were out of sight, he spun around and wrapped her in a hug. "Neo…"

 _"Law!" Neo clung tightly to him. "Law!"_

"Shh." Law stroked her hair. "It's okay, love. It's okay. I'm right here."

 _"I miss you so much." Neo looked up and locked eyes with him._

"I know, love." Law leaned down and captured her lips. They clung to each other in desperation. Their tongues dancing together in perfect harmony as they tasted each other, wishing they could do way more than just kiss. He pulled away first. Pressing his forehead to hers, his pants mixed with hers. "Has he hurt you?"

 _"No. We're both fine. Well…as fine as we can be considering everything." Neo sighed._

"I know. And I'm so sorry about all of this," Law said, brushing his nose against hers. "It's going to be a while, but I will come back to you."

 _"I know." Neo nodded. "I just needed to see you."_

Law jerked away. His eyes filled with panic. "Neo! You're not projecting yourself alone, are you?!"

 _"Of course not. I know I'm not supposed to do that. I'm_ _with Chopper. He arrived a little while ago," Neo said._

Law relaxed. Unnecessary panic, but he couldn't help it.

 _"I'm also with three Time Sprites."_

"Time Sprites?" Law waited patiently as Neo gave him a quick run down of what happened to her. "I see. What is that guy up to?"

Both looked towards the backdoor when it opened. Law frowned upon seeing the monkey had followed him.

 _"Is that the monkey that's following you all around?" Neo asked._

"Yeah." Law nodded.

 _Neo turned away from the monkey and buried her face in his chest, aching to breath in his scent, but knowing that wasn't possible like this. She would have to wait. "Law, when will you come back to me?"_

Law gritted his teeth. He really didn't want to tell her it was going to be about another three weeks before he could return.

 _"Law?"_ _Neo looked up at him when he didn't answer. "What's wrong?"_

"I'm sorry, love." Law tucked her hair behind her ears. "I can't come back to you for about another three weeks."

 _"What?" Neo gasped. "Three weeks?!"_

"I know." Law pulled her back into his chest. "I'm so sorry. I can't get the shard until then. We're catering to the family who lives there then. It's the only way we can get in and out with the shard."

 _"But I…"_

"I know. I want to be back by your side too," Law said. "But we can't. Not yet. You'll be fine. I know you will."

 _Neo sighed._

"I need you to go back now," Law said.

 _Neo flinched. "I don't want to. I want to stay with you."_

"I know you do, love." Law kissed her hair. "We'll be together again before you know it. Just focus on protecting yourself and our child. You have Tony with you now. That will help you relax until I get there. Will you stay strong for me? You're doing a very good job of it now."

 _"Okay. I'll try."_

"Good." Law tightened his hold on her. He didn't want to let her go. But they had no choice. She couldn't stay here like this forever. Her magic would drain far too fast. And they had no idea if Pendulum would try and attack her for whatever reason. "Just hold on a little bit longer."

 _Neo nodded. Reluctantly, she let herself fade away from Law._

Law's arms went limp at his sides when she was gone. He let them hang there for several seconds before gripping his fists so tightly they started to ache. Glaring down at the monkey, he hissed, "Prepare yourself, Pendulum. Once I get back to Neo, I'm going to kill you."

…

"Hm." Pendulum hummed to himself as he watched Law in one viewing mirror and Neo in another. "Interesting. It appears like she's communicating with him some how. She is amazing. She's perfect."

His eyes went back to Law when he heard the venom in the pirate's voice.

 _"Prepare yourself, Pendulum. Once I get back to Neo, I'm going to kill you."_

Pendulum chuckled darkly. "Sure you will, little pirate. You have no idea what you're really in here."


	16. Lost Memory

Forgotten Memory

Penguin was lying in his bed upon the small sub. He was trying to get some sleep while the two women he was with were piloting the sub but wasn't able to so. And not because of the pinging of the sub's instruments. He was use to those since he lived on a sub for much of his life. His mind just wouldn't leave his sister's state. So he was just staring up at the ceiling above his bed obsessing over what Neo was doing and how she was doing. Was she getting any sleep at all? Was she still alone? Had Pendulum done anything to her? How much longer were they going to have to float around in the water like this? It had already been a week or so he thought. They had no actual way of telling how much time had gone by except for making a makeshift calendar on the wall, after finding some black ink like substance, to try and keep track of that. He felt like he was going to go insane from all the worrying and from having nothing to do in this place.

Then a sudden feeling of peace washed over him from out of the blue. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of his new bed, studying his feeling carefully. He knew it had something to do with Neo. A smile spread across his face. Some how he knew she was fine and had seen the captain. He wished it were the captain that had returned first. But whoever it was, he was glad. Even if it wasn't the captain it was someone she trusted enough to keep an eye on her while she projected herself to the one she needed to see the most. Now she would definitely be able to survive until they all made it back to her. "That's my girl. Just hold on for a while longer, little sister. We'll all be back before you know it. I promise we'll be there soon."

…

Neo sighed before opening her eyes. She didn't want to. She wanted to keep them closed and stay with Law forever. But she was back. The all too familiar smells of this place had replaced the void of scents she was currently in. She could feel the sprites and Chopper eyes watching her carefully and tensely incase Pendulum came back. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, she laid her arm over her eyes. She wondered when exactly she had started crying in her real body. But it didn't matter. She had seen her love finally after an agonizing five days of being without him. It would only be a few more weeks before she would be back with him. She could handle that. She would handle that.

"You okay?" Chopper asked softly.

"Yeah." Neo nodded, brushing away her tears.

"Is Law okay?" Chopper asked.

Neo nodded and told him everything that Law had told her.

"So Nami and Law are together," Chopper said. "That's good. Nami can keep him cool enough until you're reunited. I'm glad."

"Yeah. I'm glad they have someone they can trust to. Bindy seems nice enough since she's helping them," Neo said before pausing. "I'm kind of tired now."

"I figured you would be," Chopper said. He then picked up a medicine cup off the table and handed it to her. "That's why while you were gone I prepared a sedative for you. It's going to help you sleep. I really think you should take it and a nap now. You don't have to worry about anything now. I'll keep watch while you're sleeping."

"Okay." Neo took the little cup from him and drank it without protest. With another sigh, she handed it back to him and settled back down in the couch. Forcing herself to keep calm and not focus on anything else but sleeping, she found herself soon drifting off into peaceful, dreamless slumber.

Five hours later, Neo started to wake up. For a few moments she kept her eyes closed and listened to Chopper exchange stories with the sprites before revealing to them that she was finally awake. She shifted and opened her eyes.

"You're awake," Elian said, noticing her first.

"How do you feel?" Chopper asked. He slid off the couch and walked up to her. Reaching into his bag he pulled out this blood pressure cuff and his stethoscope to check her vitals.

"Better," Neo said. "The nap really helped. My brain doesn't feel as clouded anymore."

"That's good," Chopper said. "It looks like your blood pressure is down again as well. That's so great. I was so worried. I guess that trip to see Law and your nap was really all you needed."

"It was," Neo said, adjusting the blanket on her lap. "I still will have issues sleeping until Law gets back here, but I know I'll sleep a little better now that you're here with me."

"I'm glad," Chopper said, going back to his seat. "I just wish we could communication with the others. I'd like to know how they're doing. They could be injured. It's killing me not knowing."

"I know how you feel," Neo said. "But I know they're fine. I'd know if they weren't."

"Yeah." Chopper nodded. He gasped when he felt a strange pressure appearing in the room. "What is that?! What's going on?!"

"You've got to be kidding!" Neo stood up just as the sprites flew into her hair. "Why now of all times?!"

"What's going on, Neo?!" Chopper asked. "What is this pressure?!"

"It's Pendulum," Neo hissed. "This pressure comes when he's about to arrive. I don't know if it's something he has to do or if he's just showing off."

"What?!" Chopper flailed his arms and legs before dashing behind Neo's leg. "D-don't worry, Neo! I won't let him hurt you!"

"It's all right, Chopper," Neo said just as Pendulum appeared. "What do you want now?"

"A bit cranky from having just woken up from a nap," Pendulum said, smoothing down his robe despite it being wrinkle free. "I'll chalk that up to a pregnancy symptom and let it go."

"What?! You're spying on Neo?!" Chopper demanded.

Neo placed her hand on top of Chopper's hat.

"It's not so much as spying as it is keeping a watch," Pendulum said. "And it shouldn't be a surprise considering I have been keeping an eye on all of you. I must congratulate you on finally retrieving the shard and making it back here."

"Oh yeah. Where is that shard?" Chopper asked. He glanced around the room. "And the monkey? I haven't seen either of them since we were back on that dome."

"Don't worry about them," Pendulum said. "I have them both back in my possession."

"So why are you here?" Neo patted Chopper on his hat to ease his tension. "I doubt you came here only to congratulate Chopper in getting the shard."

"That is true," Pendulum said. "I've come to give you your reward."

"Reward?" Chopper asked.

"Y-you…mean," Neo stuttered.

"That's right," Pendulum said. He started slowly walking around the room. "You've been a very good girl so I'm going to take you to your lover. Your friends are also going so it's double the reward. You won't be alone."

"You're going to take Neo to see Law?" Chopper asked. He started to mention that Neo just projected herself to Law but stopped himself just in time. Pendulum didn't need to know about that, assuming he didn't know already.

"I am." Pendulum nodded. He paused and turned back to the pirates.

Neo kneaded her eyebrows. There was something sparkling in the man's eyes that she didn't like. Once again she found herself wishing she were better at reading people. Pendulum was planning something. Getting to see Law, in the flesh, sounded far to good to be true. So what was he planning? Why did he say she wouldn't be alone? If he were really taking her to see Law, she wouldn't be alone with him and Nami there.

"And, I mean, if you four want to go with her," Pendulum said. "Unless you all want to stay here."

"No," Chopper said. "I'm staying with Neo."

"We g-" Celeste started to shout.

Feeling the sprites move around in her hair, Neo could only assume that Velocity and Elian clamped their hands on the young sprite's mouth and pulled her back into her hair.

"Very well then. Enjoy your time with your lover. It will be a rather short visit I'm afraid. He has a very special mission after all to complete. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to do anything to mess that up," Pendulum said just before everything around them turned white.

The two pirates blinked. The white void around them faded and they found themselves in what appeared to be a thicket tucked in a forest in a countryside somewhere. The grass a lush and bright green so they knew it was summer where they were. Some houses were scattered in the distance, a few with barns and animals. A small river ran beside them with a few fish jumping out of the water to snatch bugs that were hovering too close to the water's surface.

"This not Time Dome," Celeste said, poking out from Neo's hair.

Elian and Velocity poked their heads out of Neo's hair too. They exchanged concerned looks when they saw the fluffy clouds floating lazily above them.

"Where are we?" Chopper asked. "And where is Law? I don't smell him or Nami."

"He's not here. I don't sense Law at all," Neo said, her eyes locked down on the ground. "I don't understand. Celeste is right." She brushed her foot over the soft grass below her. "These plants are real. I can feel the wind too and all of the animals. I'm not sure but I think we're back in our world."

"We are in your world but with only one difference," Elian said.

"Difference?" Chopper looked up at Neo's hair were the sprites were still tucked in.

"He took us back in time," Elian said, finally coming out of Neo's hair to land on her shoulder.

"Took us back in time?" Neo asked. "Why would he do that?"

"We don't know," Velocity said, joining her brother while Celesta flew around the immediate area looking for fun. "He said that he wanted to take you to see Law. But why would-" She gasped. "Oh no!"

"What's wrong, Velocity?" Chopper asked.

"How many times do I have to say it before you understand?!" a distant voice asked. "I don't want to go to any more hospitals!"

"Will you shut up about that already?!" another, older, voice said. "We're going whether you like it or not!"

"I don't want too!" the first voice said.

They all turned their eyes in the direction the voices were coming. A few seconds later the bodies housing the voices walked around a tree. One was a tall man with blonde hair. He was holding someone over his shoulder with one hand while his other hand was holding a map. The young one screamed, "It's pointless! I've told you countless times that White Lead Syndrome can't be cured!"

Neo's eyes widened. Her heart took a sharp jolt in her chest, her breathing hitched hard in her lungs while her mind began to spin causing her to become light headed. Pendulum really did take her to see Law. Just not the Law she knew and was use to being around. Pendulum _had_ taken them back in time when Law was till a teenager with White Lead Syndrome and when Corazon was alive.

"Hey, what's going on here?" A tall blonde haired man looked up at them when he noticed the small group standing there. He narrowed his eyebrows in suspicion. "Who are you people?"

"Uh," Chopper said. "I'm Chopper."

"Celeste!" Celeste flew up to the man and spread out her arms and legs with a carefree giggle before anyone could stop her. "I Celeste! Celeste is me!"

"What's going on?" The boy lifted up on the man's shoulder to see what was going on behind him. "Who are these people?"

"So much for hiding now," Velocity said, flicking her wings.

"It shouldn't matter," Elian whispered. "We just don't need to reveal that we're from the future or anything else that could damage the timeline." He looked up at Neo. "Did you hear that, Princess? Princess?"

Neo didn't hear him. Her eyes remained locked onto Law and Corazon before her knees buckled under her and her eyelids fluttered closed. Law's hat fell off her head as she tilted backwards. It hit the ground and rolled to her left side.

"Neo!" Elian shot out his magic just before Neo could hit the ground.

"Neo?!" Chopper panicked. He danced all over the place. "What do we do?! What do we do?! We need a doctor! Oh! Wait! I'm a doctor! I don't know what to do!"

"Calm down," Elian said. "She only passed out."

"Pretty Princess sleeping!" Celeste said.

"Yeah, something like that," Velocity said, rolling her eyes at Celeste's naivety.

"Princess?" the boy questioned. "Is she a princess?"

Velocity was quick to think on her feet. Not wanting to lie or tell the truth, she said, "Celeste only calls her that. It's a nickname."

"Is she all right?" the tall man asked, his eyes dropping down to Neo's rounded stomach.

"She'll be fine," Chopper said, checking her pulse.

"Is she pregnant?" the boy asked.

"Law, why don't you go get her some water?" the man asked, sitting the boy down on his feet.

"What? Why me?" Law asked.

"Just go," the man said.

"Fine," Law grumbled. He wondered passed the group and over to the river.

"Law?" Chopper blinked at the black haired boy a couple of times before the reason why Neo passed out hit him hard. His brain then registered the young boy as the Law he knew. He screamed. "What?! You're Law?!"

"Uh, yeah," Law said over his shoulder from where he was filling up the canteen. "Corazon just said my name."

"Corazon? You mean-" Chopper started but got Velocity's magic clamped over his mouth. He looked down to her when she flew in front of his face. Realization hit him when she gave him a ' _Be quite'_ look. He nodded and she released him.

"Does she need something?" Corazon asked.

"No, that's okay," Chopper said, stroking his hoof over Neo's hair. "She just needs a minute to rest. It's been a bit of a long day."

"Being pregnant will do that to a woman," Corazon said. He sat down and crossed his legs. His eyes lowered down to Neo, eyebrows kneading again.

Chopper swallowed hard when he realized that Corazon was kneading his eyebrows in confusion. He should have assumed that Corazon would be able to tell that there's something different about Neo. His eyes drifted to Law as the boy filled up the canteen. He wondered if Law at this age would be strong enough to tell that she was different or not.

"Listen," Velocity said from the back of Chopper's hat near his ear. "You can't tell him anything about us or where we come from, even about your crew and yours ships. It could wreck the entire Time Stream if you say the wrong thing."

"I understand that," Chopper whispered while Corazon was still busy inspecting Neo. "But what do we say?"

"We'll just have to come up with something," Velocity said. "Since the princess is pregnant we can't tell them we're on a long trip but we can't say that we live around here without them possibly asking to stay at our place. I guess we'll just have to be on a small trip. Maybe say that we're going to met with some of Neo's family before she has the baby."

"That might work," Chopper said. "As long as they don't ask for details about where we're supposedly heading."

"It's all we got unless we can think of something better," Velocity said. "We'll be sure to inform the princess of this when she wakes up and do our best to keep Celeste quiet as we can. She'll be our biggest concern."

"Pretty Princess, wake up," Celeste said. She floated over Neo's face, curiously taking the pirate in. "Come on. You're much more fun awake."

"Just give her a few minutes, Celeste," Elian said. "She'll wake up soon."

"So where are you all from?" Corazon asked, sitting down on the ground.

"We're from around here," Chopper said.

"Oh? Just out for a walk then?" Corazon asked. "That can't be good for her."

"She's use to walking around a lot," Velocity said. "She's very healthy. We're actually going to see some of her family. They want her to visit before the baby arrives and she and her husband get busy with their child. They can't travel because of health issues."

"I see," Corazon said. "I guess that makes sense. We're traveling ourselves. A bit of a vacation from everything you could say."

Law scoffed. He walked over to Chopper and handed him the canteen he had filled. Plopping down on the ground, he said, "We're not on vacation at all. You're forcing me to go to hospitals even though I don't want to."

"Oh, hush! You're going to get cured! One way or another!" Corazon said.

"I will not!" Law snapped. "How many times do I have to tell you that?!"

"Ignore him," Corazon said. "He's only a brat. He's really a softy at heart."

"I am not!" Law said. The boy's eyes dropped down to Neo when she moaned a bit in her unconscious state.

Chopper swallowed hard again and held his breath. So far Corazon hadn't mentioned that Neo didn't feel human, so he figured he wouldn't, at least not yet, but he had no idea what Law was going to do. It was clear that the young boy was more outspoken that the man was.

"How long is she going to be like that?" Law asked.

Chopper sighed. It appeared that Law didn't notice anything different about Neo, at least not yet. He really wished they had a better way of telling how strong a person has to be before they noticed that Neo wasn't human.

Neo moaned again then opened her eyes. The sky above her spun until Chopper came into her view.

"You okay?" Chopper asked.

"Yeah," Neo said.

"Pretty Princess awake!" Celeste announced. "Pretty Princess awake!"

"We were worried about you," Elian said as Neo started to sit up. "Take it easy."

"I'm sorry," Neo said. Her body flinched when she saw Law and Corazon again. "I'm not feeling very good right now."

"I'll bet," Chopper said.

"What does that mean?" Law asked.

"Ack! She's pregnant! That's all!" Chopper said with a nervous chuckle. "I didn't mean much by it!"

"Whatever," Law grumbled.

Neo placed her hand on her face before dragging her hand through her hair. Her heart skipped a beat to find Law's hat missing. "La-My hat! Where is it?!"

"Right here," Corazon said, picking up the hat the was next to him. He tossed the hat to her when she looked at him.

Neo caught it and hugged it to her chest.

"You have the same taste in hats that Law does," Corazon said.

Law scoffed again. "We do not. They're only similar. It doesn't mean we have the same taste." He looked back at Neo. "And you're acting like you about lost a special treasure. It's just a hat."

"You could say that it is a treasure. It's actually my husband's." Neo placed the hat back on her head. "I'm just…borrowing it for a while."

"Princess," Elian said when he landed on her shoulder. He leaned into her ear and whispered Velocity's plan to her. "We also think it's a good idea for you to not use your crystals while we're around these two."

"If Law is in trouble, I don't know if I'll be able to hold back," Neo said.

"I can't understand that," Elian said. "But you know he survives everything that he goes through. If you use your crystals it could affect the future you have with him. He might get hurt, or you might, or the route he takes when he finds you might not happen."

"I understand," Neo said. "I'll try not to use my crystals. But if his or Cora's lives become endangered I won't just stand there."

"Just do your best," Elian said. "And remember we're here with you. We can use our magic more often than you can."

"So where exact are you heading?" Corazon asked.

"Oh, a little farther up the river from here," Velocity said.

"We're heading that was as well," Corazon said. "You might want to travel along with us."

"Why's that?" Elian asked.

"There's been some bandits spotted in the area recently," Corazon said. "I wouldn't want you all to get attacked."

"I see," Elian said. He ran his eyes over his friends. They all, but for Celeste, didn't really know what to do. So he made the decision for them. "If you don't think we'll be a bother, we'll be glad to walk with you for a while."

"Oh, yes!" Velocity clasped her hands together. "That would be very nice. We don't want anything to happen to our little princess here. Isn't that right, P-Neo?"

"Yes." Neo nodded. "It wouldn't be good for us to travel by ourselves with bandits in the area." She placed her hand on her stomach, ever playing the vulnerable pregnant woman. "My husband would be upset if something happened to us."

"Looks like you've already been hit by the bandits," Law said. He pointed to her bare feet. "Your shoes are gone."

"Oh…no, I don't wear shoes much," Neo said. "I didn't wear them much growing up so they're quite a pain to wear now. I only wear them when I absolutely have to."

"You're so weird," Law said.

"You have no idea," Neo murmured.

"Let's be off then," Corazon said, standing up. "I'd like to get another mile or two in before it gets dark."

"Can you stand up now?" Chopper asked.

"Yes," Neo said with a nod. She stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. "I'm all right."

The walk through the forest was a fairly quiet one. The only noise they had entering their ears was the running water, the birds chirping, furry animals scurrying off when they got too close, their footsteps, and Celeste's typical chatter and the occasional scolding from Velocity or Elian. Neo couldn't keep her eyes off of Law. Her body still felt cool and numb from actually seeing him at this age. She wondered if this was affecting her Law in the future at all at any point in time. But mostly she wondered if he remembered seeing her like this. He's never mentioned it before so he must have forgotten this happened. It wouldn't surprise her if he did forget it. He lost Corazon after all. She looked around. That time could actually be coming up fairly soon since Law was clearly still sick. They haven't learned of the Op Op Devil Fruit yet.

"Celeste!" Velocity snapped for about the twentieth time in the passed out. "Stop riding that fish like a horse!"

"Seahorse! Seahorse!" Celeste chirped. Her feet trailing along in the cold water as the fish swam around.

"It's not a seahorse!" Velocity said. "It lives in the river not the sea!"

Celesta looked at Velocity, considering her words before saying, "River horse! River horse!"

Corazon laughed. "She's quite the odd one, isn't she?"

"You have no idea," Velocity said.

"So where's your ship?" Chopper asked. "Or are you staying on this island?"

"We actually got done with what we had to do here," Corazon said. "We're heading back to our ship now to head off for another island."

"I see," Chopper said. "So have you been traveling long?"

Neo looked at Chopper, wondering if he was bored with the silence. He probably was. After all he was use to having Luffy around. This time, she was glad the Straw Hat captain wasn't around. She had no idea how they would keep him quiet about any of this.

"It's been about five months," Corazon said.

Neo swallowed. She was right. They were coming upon the time when Corazon gets the Op Op fruit and then dies. On impulse she opened her mouth to tell them where to find the Op Op fruit in an attempt to save them both. But before she could get a word out several bandits jumped out of the bushes and down from tree limbs. She cursed herself. If she had been paying more attention to the world around her instead of obsessing over Law she could have seen this coming. The animals could have warned her. They probably tried and she didn't hear them.

"Well, look at what we have here," a bandit said. His eyes went directly to Neo, eyeing her hungrily. "A pretty little woman lost in the woods."

Neo rolled her eyes. She wasn't lost at all.

"She's pregnant, Boss," another one said.

"No big deal," the boss said. He swung his large club around then placed it on his shoulder. "We can easily get rid of the babe."

Neo took a step back. Her hands shot to her stomach while Chopper and the sprites jumped in front of her.

"You'll do well to stay away from her," Corazon said before anyone else could issue a similar warning.

"She is your woman?" the boss asked.

"No," Corazon said. "But she is under my care for the moment. And I won't allow you to hurt her or anyone else here."

"We'll see about that!" The man charged forward. Corazon easily dodged attacks from them. Velocity and Elian also jumped into the fight. They used their magic to trip and float the bandits around, dropping few in the river. Celesta made faces at one until he angrily swung at her. She easily dodged him and continued making faces until she managed to get him on the edge of the riverbank. He swung his arms in an attempt to keep his balance. Celeste tapped him on his nose, causing him to fall into the river with a splash.

Neo shot her eyes to Law. He was holding a thick stick in his hands. Focused on one bandit, he didn't notice another one sneaking up behind him. Her heart skipped a beat. She summoned her crystals. The man behind Law started to swing at him. But Law quickly moved out of the way causing the two men to crash into each other. She banished her crystals and placed her hand on her stomach. He clearly was capable of taking care of himself even at this age. Her eyes wondered over to Corazon. He already had over half of the men knocked out. She then remembered that they were part of the Doflamingo Family. Then it was over. The bandits retreated and they were alone again. They continued on their way for two more hours before Corazon decided it was best to make camp now before it got too dark.

They sat around the fire. The only sound around them was the crackling of the blaze and the crickets chirping into the night. The tension was thick as they tried to figure out what to say to each other. Neo's eyes kept going over to Law and her hand to her stomach while she mindlessly nibbled on the rabbit that Corazon had gotten for them a little while ago. While he was gone, she used the chance to grow some fruits in Chopper's bag so they could add to the meal. All the while, she couldn't believe that she was actually seeing Law as a child. It hurt. In more ways than one. This Law wasn't hers. This Law was just a teenager, a teenager that was still sick with the White Lead Syndrome. It took all of her might not to tell Corazon and Law to go after the Op Op Devil Fruit. It took even more for her not to tell them that Corazon was going to die shortly after they find the Devil Fruit. She had the ability to save them both. And she couldn't do it. Her whole body and soul ached. It was painfully tempting to just blur everything out. If she did, what all would happen? Would she completely change their destinies? If Corazon didn't die then Law never would become a Heart Pirate. The Heart Pirate crew would never have been formed. And Law never would have found her. Or would he? If things happened differently in the past, how much would actually change in the future? There was a possibility that Law would still find her. She thought so anyway. But then, maybe not. Law would have no reason to go the route he did while sailing through the Grand Line and to Sabaody. She would never meet her brothers and sisters then. She would probably not even know who she was. It was also possible that she would die in the future when Law should have saved her.

Before she knew it, the sun had set and the group she was with was fast asleep. She tired to sleep. But she couldn't Her eyes just keep going across the fire to Law's sleeping form. Without thinking, she got up and went over to him. Kneeling down, she stared down at Law, the light from the fire highlighting only half of his face. She reached for him but paused just before connecting their skin. Pulling back she bit her bottom lip in a desperate attempt not to cry. She couldn't do it. Pushing up to her feet, she walked away from the fire. Slipping through the trees and bushes, she made her way over to the small river. With the running water to drown her out, she cried. Dropping back down to the ground, she hugged her knees and let it all come out. Several minutes later, she had stopped crying. She felt someone sitting down beside her. She didn't have to look to know who it was.

"So who are you really?" Corazon asked.

Neo lifted her eyes from her knees. "I can't tell you that."

"I see," he said.

"How did you know?" Neo asked.

"You all aren't that good at hiding your facial expressions," Corazon said. "That and the way you constantly look at Law. While I know he's never met you before, you clearly know who he is. I have a little theory on that too."

"Oh?" Neo knew she shouldn't ask, but she couldn't stop herself. "And what would that be?"

"You're his lover," Corazon said flat out.

"If I said that was true, how exactly did you come to that conclusion?" Neo asked.

"Like I said, it's the way you look at him," Corazon said. "That and you touch your stomach each time you do look at him."

"I didn't even realize I was doing that," Neo said.

"You do," Corazon said.

"Are you going to force me to tell you who we really are?" Neo asked, sneaking a glance at the man beside her. He looked the exact same as he did when he was protecting her when she was fighting the poison on Luminous. But he was dead at that time. So of course he would look the same as he did now. It made him miss the man, and Law, even more. She wanted Law, her Law, to see Corazon again. Her eyes went back to the water in front of her.

"I won't do that," he said. "I know you have your reasons for keeping quiet."

"Cora?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Caring about him. Taking care of him. Loving him." She paused. "I would love to tell you everything. But I can't. But I do want you to know that you mean a great deal to him. Always protect him for as long as you can."

"You're not human, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

Silence fell between them before Neo said, "We're just going to disappear before long."

"Oh?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"Will you just sit here with me for a while?" Neo asked.

"I would love to," Corazon replied.

…

A sharp gasp left Law's lips. He shot up in his makeshift bed and grabbed his head. "I remember…"

"Remembered what?" Nami asked, stirring the contents of their dinner on their fire.

"I've met her before," Law mumble.

"Met who before?" Nami asked. "Are you dreaming or something?"  
"No." Place placed his hands on his face. "I'm awake. I just…remembered her all of a sudden."

"Remembered who?" Nami asked.

"Neo," Law said.

"Okay, you're not making any sense," Nami said. "Are you sure you're not sleeping over there?"

"I said I was awake," Law said. "And I am. I just remembered that I met Neo long before I found her."

"Huh?"

"When I was just a teenager," Law explained, "a young blue haired pregnant woman, a reindeer and three little sprites suddenly appeared out of no where. It was when I was still sick and Cora was trying to find me a cure by going to hospitals. They kept to themselves most of the time, but then the next day they were gone."

"Okay," Nami said.

"It was Pendulum," Law said. "He took her back to the past to see me."

"But why?" Nami asked. "Why would he do something like that?"  
"I don't know," Law said.

"Hey, do you think that has something to do with you finding Neo in the first place?" Nami asked. "I mean, if you met her before you found her, then you had prior knowledge to her existence. And you said that you couldn't just leave her there when you did find her. Is that possible?"  
"I don't know," Law said. "I forgot about her. Then I thought it was just Cora who was telling me to keep her, but now I think it might have been my instincts as well."

"How is Neo doing now? Can you feel her?"  
"Yeah." Law nodded. "She's a bit upset and confused, but otherwise fine."

"That's good," Nami said.

…

And just like Neo said, they did disappear a little while after she and Corazon returned to the fire for sleep. She felt Pendulum before he appeared. She glared at him. Without a word, they were taken back to the dome. Pendulum was nowhere to be found. She figured he didn't want to stick around to hear what she had to say about what he did. And she had a lot of stuff to say to him, a lot of it was very unlady and unprincess like. Perhaps it was best that he didn't stay. She sunk to the couch and closed her eyes. She didn't want to talk to anyone. The others sensed that and remained quiet for the remainder of the day.

Then it was time for bed. The small group moved back upstairs. Neo quickly used the bathroom and laid down on the bed. Soon Chopper had joined her, his hat was off. She found him cute whether he wore it or not. He said, "Neo, are you okay?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Neo said. "I should have known that's what Pendulum was planning. I could sense he was up to something. And he doesn't seem like the guy who'd do something out of kindness. He seems to enjoy the pain he causes."

"I've noticed that as well," Chopper said.

"Well," Neo said, her eyes growing sharp with distain. "He better get his fill. Because once Law gets here, he won't have another chance. Law's going to kill him."

"Yeah." Chopper nodded. "You should get some sleep now."

"I'll try," Neo said. She closed her eyes, her mind swirling with thoughts of Law.

…

 **Author's Notes: I really wish I could have gone more into this one. But with how Pendulum is it's just not possible. Same with the other chapters. They would be a lot more fun if they could actually talk to others about what they're doing.**


	17. Birds & Lizards

Birds & Lizards

Sanji's stomach rumbled with hunger pains. He was ready to get the shard and get back to Neo and real food. Today was that day. He was finally going to enter into the cooking competition. And he was going to win. It took him a bit longer to get use to all of the bugs the people here ate in their dishes, but he had done it. He might not be as good with the bird food here as he is with his own familiar foods, but Colman had said his food should win. He had to take the birds word for it. He couldn't tell if he had improved at all through tasting the dishes. His eyes wondered up to the race over head when a group of birds flew past him. He could hear the shouts of the people watching the race.

"You can do it, Jacen!"

"You've got this!"

"Did you see that move?!"

"Yeah! That dove is amazing!"

"She is amazing," Colman said, cradling the eggs in the sling he was wearing. His eyes locked on his mate as she flew through the obstacle course, dodge birds trying to hit her, and were on the last run of the event. She only needed one more ingredient then it would be time for Sanji to start cooking. He looked over at Sanji. "Are you ready?"  
"As ready as I can be," Sanji said. "Are you sure I'm good enough?"

"You are." Colman nodded. "Just focus and remember everything I told you."

"Right," Sanji said.

Both their eyes wondered back up to Leta as she finally snatched the last ingredient for the dish Sanji was going to make. Colman said, "Good. She managed to survive this."

"It was brutal," Sanji said. "I would like to say that I'm shocked but it's almost like the games we played with Silver Foxy."

"Silver who?" Colman asked.

"It's a long story," Sanji said. "And one we don't have time for."

"You're right," Colman said, picking up one of the bags they had with them, and headed off to meet up with Leta. "It's time you got ready."

Sanji grabbed the last two bags and, with the monkey at his heels, followed after the birdman. He eyed the bags. His two bird friends had decided to pack everything up last night. They wanted to leave as soon as they competition was over. He just hoped and prayed that he could actually pull this off. Despite it being a competition on cooking, he felt a bit out of his element. He didn't want to disappoint his friends and lose. He didn't want them to stay in this terrible territory any longer than they already have. Just as they reached the cooking area, Leta landed near them. "Hey, you were great up there."

"Thanks," Leta said, through her pants. She handed over the bag she had. "There you go. It's all up to you now."

"Right." Sanji nodded and took the bag from her. "I'll do my best."

"That's all we can ask for," Leta said.

"Just do what you can," Colman said. "And be cautious of the gang. They might still try and keep you from winning."

"Since their boss protested me taking over before the race started, I don't doubt it," Sanji said. "But I'll be fine."

"The race is about to end," Leta said. Just then an announcement called out over the P.A. system.

"And that wraps up this round of the competition!" the voice said. "Winners, make your way to the cooking area! We will begin the last part of the competition shortly!"

"Well, that's my cue," Sanji said. He shifted the bag on his shoulder and walked over to the stage.

"Good luck!" Leta called.

"You can do it!" Colman added.

Sanji waved to them and claimed a cooking spot. While waiting for the rest of the winners to gather, he laid out the ingredients on the counter, trying his best to not let the wiggling grubs turn his stomach. He figured his face was already blue from looking at them. Inhaling, he calmed his stomach and focused on Neo. It wouldn't be much longer. Time on this was ticking down. He then would be back with his friend. He looked up and found several gang members glaring menacingly at him. He scoffed. They looked more like playground bullies to him. And they had already gathered several sizes of objects to throw at him. He was surprised that they didn't just charge at Colman while he was cooking, but the dove had told him that was against the rules.

Then it happened. The announcer made the announcement for them to start cooking. The air was filled with cheers and a few threats. It all mixed together with the clanking of dishes as the cooks began their meals. They weren't even in it for a minute before a rock was thrown. Sanji easily grabbed it before it could hit him in the forehead. Ignoring the glares for the gang, he continued cooking. Then more, bigger objects flew at him. Despite the anger burning inside of him, he managed to keep his cool and keep the objects from getting into his dish. A smile cracked on his face. It was irony how he was protect a dish made of dirt and bugs from trash. Brushing it aside, he continued cooking. This was one of his bird friends' favorite meals. As long as they liked it, he didn't mind making it for them. They probably wouldn't like the things he cooked back on the Sunny.

Finally, it ended. The announcer said for the cooks to put their utensils down and step away from the dishes while the judges tested them. Now with his job done, he wondered back down to Colman and Leta. "Well, that's that."

"You did just fine," Colman said.

"Yes," Leta agreed. "You couldn't have done better."

Sanji only nodded. He knew they were just being nice. He could have done a lot better if it was food he was familiar with and if people weren't throwing things at him while he was cooking. It didn't matter now. It was done and over. Soon they would know who won soon.

An agonizing twenty minutes later, the winner was announced. He said, "It has been decided! The winner of this competition is Colman's Dish cooked by Sanji!"

The reaction was a mix of cheers, boos, and angry shouts.

"He did it!" Leta cried as she hugged Colman. "We can leave here now!"

"Yes." Colman nodded, hugging her back with his one good arm. "Thank you, Sanji. Thank you so much."

"Yes!" Leta hugged the blonde cook. "Thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to us!"

"It was my pleasure." Sanji smiled at them.

"Sanji, please come over to the prize table and claim what is yours," the announcer said.

"Let's go get what is _yours_ ," Sanji said.

"Hey, part of it is yours too," Colman said. "A deal is a deal. You get the shard."

"Thanks so much," Sanji said. The three then walked over to the prize table to claim what was theirs, all happy to get away from this place. Before they could reach it, the boss of the gang and his men stepped between them and the table. The pirate sighed. So much for a quick peaceful exit. "What are you doing? Buzz off. That prize is ours."

"This is a joke!" The boss pointed accusingly at Sanji. His dark grey and brown wings partway extended from his body. "You have no right to win! You have no right to even cook in this competition! You're not of our kind!"

"You can't be serious." Sanji puffed on his cigarette then frowned. "I broke no rules what so ever. Now get out of our way."

"Not going to happen," the boss said. "Get him, men!"

The gang members opened their wings and took to the air with their leader in front. Sanji bolted forwards before they all could take off. He knew if they all got into the air there was no way he would be able to defeat them. He had to take out as many as he could while they were on the ground. Several roundhouse kicks and strikes took out about thirty of the gang. But there were over forty already in the air. He cursed under his breath and whipped around. "We have to get out of here! There's no way I can-" He paused when finding his two bird friends and several others staring wide eyed at him. "What?"

"What manner of fighting was _that_?" someone asked.

"Have you ever seen anything like it?"

"I haven't. Where do you suppose he came from?"

"I don't know but he's not one of us." The crowd began to gather around him asking questions after questions, shove him and the others into a corner.

"What are you all talking about?" Sanji asked. "Haven't you ever seen marital arts?"

"No. We fight with our claws and wings," another person said as he raised his hand to show Sanji his retractable claws.

"I see," Sanji replied, finally realizing that these bird people didn't fight like he and the other pirates did. They fought like wild birds would. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. They are birds after all. That would explain why those gang members were so weak. They've never fought against someone like me."

"Sanji, we really need to go!" Colman said, pointing up to the sky. "They're coming back! And we can't fight them all!"

"Oh, crap!" Sanji looked up. The gang was about to descend down upon them. "Leta! Colman! Grab the prize and let's go! I'll take your bags!"

"Right!" The doves took to the air.

"Sky Walk!" Sanji followed them with their bags and the monkey in his arms. Keeping one eye on the gang and the other on his friends, he waited to see which would get to him first. His entire body relaxed when he sat his friends snatch up their prize then zoom over to him. They each grabbed him under his arms and some how managed to fly off with him. "Can you two out fly them all with all this weight?"  
"We can only try!" Colman replied over the howling wind that whipped around them.

Sanji looked over his shoulder when the gang shouted obscene things at them. "Geez! They are not happy!"

"Hold on!" Leta said. "We're going to lose them!"

A cry escaped Sanji's mouth when the two doves took a sharp dive, then a sharp left, followed by a sharp right, and then he was on the ground. Blinking in confusion, he looked around to find they were in a dark alley. "What the…?"

"We should be safe here," Colman said.

"Are you sure about that?" Sanji asked. "Don't they know this place?"

"Not like we do," Leta said. "We grew up here our whole lives. We know it better than they ever will."

"I see," Sanji said, sitting down their bags.

"We can't thank you enough, Sanji," Colman said. "We mean it. You saved us."

"I'm just glad I can help." Sanji smiled at them.

"Here you go," Colman said, holding out the trophy. "As I just said a deal is a deal. You get your prize."

"Are you two going to be all right now?" Sanji took the trophy from Colman.

"Yes, we will be just fine." Colman nodded, as did Leta. "The gang doesn't leave the city so we won't have any more problems with them once we're outside the boarders. Well, we will be leaving now. Is there anything else we can do for you before we go? Can we take you somewhere?"

"No, I can manage from here." Sanji waved the trophy. "I got what I came for. Thanks again for letting me have this. It's means a lot to me."

"Goodbye, Sanji," Leta said as she gave him another hug. "May your travels be a safe one. And I hope your friends are doing well."

"Same to you. And thanks a lot." Sanji smiled and shook Colman's hand. He watched as the two gathered their stuff and flew off into the cloudless sky. As he watched his friends disappear into the sky, the monkey beside him reached up and took the shard off the trophy body. The next thing the cook knew was the color of the sky had darkened a bit. He looked around to find that he was no longer standing in the dark alleyway, but somewhere else that had a strange lighthouse tower. "Huh? What just happened? Where am I?"

Sanji looked around before noticing the house behind him. "What is this place? Am I in another one of those domes?" His heart jumped. He bolted for the door. "Then Neo must be here! She has to be!" He grabbed the door handles and threw them open. "Neo?!"

"Huh?" Chopper popped his head over the couch. Tears poured down his furry cheeks upon seeing his friend. "Sanji! Neo, Sanji's here!"

"Huh?" Sanji heard Neo mumble. Then he saw her when she sat up on the couch. Judging from the way she was rubbing her eye, he had woken her up from a nap. Her eyes widened upon seeing the blonde man. Both she and Chopper jumped over the back of the couch and ran to him. "Sanji! You're here!"

"I can't believe you're really here!" Chopper said just before grabbing onto his friend. "We've been so worried!"

"Sanji!" Neo dove into his open arms, not carrying about the smoke on his clothes.

"Chopper! Neo!" Sanji wrapped his arms around both of them, holding them tight to his body. "Are you two okay? Are you hurt?"

"We're okay," Chopper replied looking up at the cook. "How are you?"

"Are you hurt?" Neo added.

"No, I'm fine. Are the others here too?" Sanji said.

"Not yet," Chopper said. "We're the only ones here from our crews."

"Are you sure you're not hurt? Did you have to fight anything?" Neo asked. "I can give you an energy boost if you need it."

"No, Neo." Sanji smiled at her. "I did get into a little scuffle, but got no serious injuries. In all honestly, the only thing I _need_ right now, besides you two, is to see the kitchen."

"The kitchen?" Chopper asked.

Sanji didn't say anything else. His body just automatically turned right towards the kitchen as if he already been to this place and knew where it was. In a robotic walk, he wondered into it. Neo and Chopper exchanged confused glances before following after him. They watched as Sanji just stood there, running his eyes all over the room before he erupted into overly dramatic tears and danced around the kitchen.

"So beautiful!" Sanji cried. He rapidly checked out what the kitchen held, all the food, utensils, everything. "I have no idea what kind of food this is or this is, but at least it's not bugs! No more bugs! I don't have to cook bugs anymore! I'm bug free! This looks good! I can't wait to try it! This one smells so sweet! This grey stuff looks a bit odd but I'm sure it's a lot better than bugs! Yahoo! No more bugs! I can eat real, or I hope it's real, food!"

"Sanji, did you hit your head?" Chopper inquired.

"Sanji funny! Sanji funny!"

Sanji paused upon hearing the small, unfamiliar voice. He turned to find a little orange person flying in front of him. "What the heck?"

The little person giggled and blushed then latched onto his left cheek without warning. "Sanji cute! Cutie! Sanji cutie! My cutie!"

"Again I ask, what the heck?" Sanji questioned. He plucked the sprite off his cheek. The sprite giggled and got hearts in her eyes, trying to reach out for him again.

"Sanji cutie!" Celeste giggled, wiggling her fingers.

"Does this thing really have wings?" Sanji's eyes roamed all over Celeste's little body.

"Forgive her," Velocity said, appearing to the cook. "She can be a bit of a loon at times. She hit her head when she was learning to fly one too many times."

"Okay." Sanji released the little sprite. She grabbed onto his cheek again. He looked over at Chopper and Neo. "I think we have quite a lot to talk about."

Chopper and Neo nodded. They all sat down at the table and exchanged stories, Sanji going first after his little bizarre kitchen dance. Sanji puffed on his cigarette as he listened to what Chopper and Neo was telling him. After they were finished he stood up and walked back outside with the others following him. He stared at the tower. "So that thing is important to Pendulum for some reason?"

"Yes." Neo nodded. "But don't you dare try and destroy it. Pendulum has the ability to slow things down. Sanji, please don't do anything reckless. He could hurt the others."

"Don't worry, Neo." Sanji turned to his friend. He cupped her cheek. "I'm not going to do anything that will put you and your baby in danger."

"Thank you." Neo leaned into him, but was pushed back. "Sanji?"

"I'm sorry," Sanji said, holding her at arms length. "I have smoke on me. I don't want to you to inhale it anymore than you already have."

"Oh, right," Neo said, sad that she couldn't get too close.

"I help! I can help!" Celeste finally removed herself from Sanji's cheek. Her hands started to glow orange. She fired the glow at Sanji, removing the smoke from him and making him smell like an array of flowers. "Better? I did good?"

"Yeah, that's great." Sanji inspected his smoke free self. "I didn't know it was possible to do something like that. Thanks a lot."

"Cutie!" Celeste giggled and latched back onto his cheek.

"At least I can hug you now," Neo said, wrapping her arms back around him.

…

Shachi tugged his hat brim down over his eyes. The silence around him was defying. The crowd was staring in shock at how his friend was able to take down his opponent with just one hit. He wasn't surprised. The people who lived here obviously didn't know what Devil Fruits were or how strong it actually made people. In that way, this fight wasn't actually fair at all. But then they were pirates. Fairness didn't come into play a lot in their lives. It was win or be defeated no matter what.

Luffy laughed. He walked over to the table where the prize money was sitting. "I guess this is mine now." He picked it up and walked off. "Thanks a lot. This was fun."

Shachi sighed. Without a word, he followed Luffy through the stunned crowd. Making their way through the crowded streets of the market, they came upon the shop that their nurse friend had told them about. They entered it.

"Hello," an older man greeted them. "How may I help you?"

"We need some gear," Shachi said. "We're going after the lizards that stole something from us."

"Ah, yes," he said. "I have been told about you. And I already have everything gathered up for you."

"Seriously? That's awesome," Luffy said with a huge grin.

"Why would you do that?" Shachi asked. "We might have lost."

"I like to be prepared," he said. "Besides, I know you two are in a hurry to get out of here."

"We are." Shachi nodded.

"Then you can leave right away," he said. "Everything's waiting for you to leave."

Luffy and Shachi followed the man through the door and out the back door. There were several of the creatures Shachi had seen before passing out in the desert. They were packed up with all the gear they were going to need.

"Great! We get to ride the doggies!" Luffy said.

"They're not doggies," another man said. This one was younger than the other. He was standing near one of the creatures with a frown on his face. "Let's get going. I'd like to get you nuts out there and get back soon."

"Sure thing," Shachi said.

"Well, good luck," the old man said. "You're going to need it."

"Thanks." Luffy mounted one of the creatures.

"We'll be fine," Shachi said, climbing upon the creature himself. Without another word, they were off. Most of the ride was quiet all but for Luffy's talking. He was asking questions about this place but the man they were with didn't answer. Soon they had arrived back at the rock formation. They dismounted.

"That's it," the man said. He gathered up the creatures and climbed back on the one he was riding. "You're on your own now. If you'd like me to informed your loved one of your deaths, tell me now."

"What? We're not going to die," Luffy said.

"That's what everyone else said before going down there," he said then took off.

"Charming fellow," Shachi mumbled. "Let's get started."

"Right!" Luffy nodded.

After about an hour of going through their supplies, they had their ropes around the rock, located a hole when one of the lizards came up unexpectedly, and their breathing masks on. They walked over to the area where the lizard had come up from and started digging. They weren't sure how long they had been digging when suddenly the ground underneath them gave out and they plummeted down a tunnel. Both pirates screamed upon the unexpected drop, Luffy out of excitement while Shachi screamed out of panic.

They bounced around the tunnel, unsure about how far they had fallen or was going to fall. Was there going to be rocks at the bottom of this tunnel? Or sharp points of some kinds? A man eating monster? What did these lizards eat anyway? Were they doing to fall in a river? Or possibly a never ending pit? Were there poison snakes down here?

Suddenly a brighter light than their flashlights broke into their eyes. They closed their eyes. Their bodies plowed into something hard. Rocks rolled onto the ground, scattering around them. Luffy was the first to sit up. He said, "Whoa! That was some ride!"

"I thought we were going to die," Shachi said, sitting up. He looked around to find a small oasis on a small island that was surrounded by water. Several lizards were scattered around the walls and trees and even in the water. Some glanced over at the intrusion while others didn't bother to look. For the most part, the creatures didn't care about the two intruders being in their home. "Where are we?"

"Wow! This place is so cool!" Luffy jumped to his feet. He pulled off his mask and tossed it to the ground. "I wish everyone else was here to see this!"

"Leave it up to you to be impressed so easily." Shachi took off his own mask and set it aside. "Do you see the one with the shard?"

Luffy hummed and looked around. There had to be over a hundred of the lizards in this place, that they could see. "Nope. I don't see it. At least we have Chester with us. He'll fine the shard."

"Chester?" Shachi asked.

"Yeah." Luffy pointed at the monkey. "I decided to call him Chester. He looks like a Chester, doesn't he?"

"I can't believe you actually named that thing," Shachi said.

"Why not?" Luffy asked. "We have to call him something."

"We could have just called him The Monkey," Shachi said.

"That's boring and doesn't fit him at all," Luffy said.

"He's a monkey," Shachi said. "It fits just fine."

"You can call him that," Luffy said. "I'm going to call him Chester."

"Fine." Shachi stood up. "We don't have time to argue about this."

"So what first?" Luffy asked.

"Let's see if we can find the shard," Shachi said. "If we can get it, we won't have to set up our gear."

"All right." Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Show us where the shard is, Chester."

The monkey chirped and formed the map.

"See? He likes his name," Luffy said, squatting down to look at the map.

"Whatever," Shachi said with a sigh. He looked at the map. "Looks like it's down that tunnel over there." He looked to the tunnel. "I wonder how many tunnels there are and where they lead to."

"Never mind that! Let's just go!" Luffy dashed off towards the tunnel.

"Straw Hat! Wait!" Shachi cried. "You can't just run after that thing! We already tried that! It won't work! We need a plan!" He sighed when Luffy disappeared into the tunnel. "Just great. At least we're not in the desert this time. But that won't help much if we can't get that shard. How can we get it when the lizard can hide itself and move so fast?"

…

Shachi huffed as he watched Luffy chase after the lizard. He had no idea how the rubber captain still had so much energy after chasing the thing for two hours. He also had no idea how the Straw Hats could put up with such a man. He felt like he was babysitting a child that refused to listen to a word he said. But one good thing came out of Luffy's stubbornness in running after the thing. It appeared that all of the tunnels led right back to this oasis. And, of course, he knew at least some of the tunnels led back up to the surface. He doubted that Luffy would actually be able to run up the tunnels. If all the tunnels are like the one they fell down, it would be impossible to climb it without gear. He looked back over to the hole they fell out of. The rope was still there. As far as he could tell none of the lizards was bothering it. He hoped they never did. It was their only way of getting out of this place to go get more supplies if it was needed.

He pulled his eyes back to Luffy when the young captain came running out of another tunnel.

"You get back here!" Luffy cried. "We need that shard! Just give it to us already!"

And into another tunnel they went.

"If only Neo was here," Shachi said, "she could easily get it for us." He looked up at the ceiling. "I wonder how you're doing."

…

Neo, holding Law's hat on her lap, sighed in slight contentment as she watched Sanji cooking with the sprites. They were showing him how to cook their food. And he loved every single second of it. Every once in a while he would do another little funky dance and say how much he loved being around real food, even if it still wasn't what they were use to. It made her feel a little better now that he was here.

Soon they had their meal on the table.

"Here you go, my lovely little fairy," Sanji said. "Eat in good health, my dear."

"Thank you, Sanji," Neo said.

"It smells so good," Chopper said.

"Neo, there is something I want to talk to you about," Sanji said, sitting down.

"What is it?" Neo asked.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay in your room with you," Sanji said. "I want to be as close to you as possible in case that Pendulum guy tries to do something to you. I know he hasn't done anything to you yet, but we can't trust him. And I know Law would agree with me."

"That's fine," Neo said.

"I've been staying with her too," Chopper said.

"Good man," Sanji said to the reindeer.

"Ah, shucks! You don't have to tell me that, you idiot!" Chopper blushed and squirmed in his seat.

"So how long do you think the others will take to get their shards?" Neo asked.

"It's hard to tell," Sanji said. "But I know that everyone is working their hardest to get back to you."

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "I just wish I could Project myself to all of them."

"You should eat now," Sanji said.

Neo nodded. They all dug into their meal then retired to the living room for a few more hours before they wondered up the stairs. While Neo got ready for bed, Sanji went into a different room to get some blankets and pillows for him. She had just crawled into be when he came into the room.

"I'm going to stay up for a while to keep watch," Sanji announced.

"Okay, but I don't want you staying up all night. You need your rest as well," Neo said.

"I will," Sanji said. "You just go to sleep now."

Neo nodded. With Chopper laying beside her and the girl sprites scattered on the pillows with her, she laid down and closed her eyes.

"Thanks a lot for taking care of her," Sanji said once he knew Neo was asleep.

"It was our pleasure," Elian said. "She's very sweet. I'm just sorry there was nothing we could do in retrieving all of your crewmates."

"Don't worry about that," Sanji said. "It wasn't your fault. Our crews are tough. They'll be here soon."

Elian nodded.

…

Shachi took off his sunglasses and rubbed his hand over his face. It has been two and a half weeks since they started trying to retrieve the shard from the lizard. And they hadn't come close at all to getting it. He was currently taking a break while Luffy continued to run after the shard. He hated this. They were taking so much time in getting this shard from a stupid lizard. It was really embarrassing. The crew wasn't going to let him live this down. That is, if he ever told them about it. To which he was not planning on.

Soon it would be his turn again to chase after the lizard. He didn't want to. He was sick of it. They needed a plan. They needed both of them to run after the lizard. Unfortunately that would mean leaving their gear unguarded so other lizards could steal it. His eyes dropped down to the map. He wished it could give him a clear view of the tunnels around here. But as he continued to watch it over the days, he started to notice the lizard was running in a specific pattern. It was only taking certain paths. He had no idea why. All he knew was he found a small twinkle of hope.

He started formulating a plan in his head. But that plan would require _both_ of them. Losing all of their stuff would only be a bad thing if they didn't get the shard back. He knew they had to risk it. They both had to go after the lizard at the same time. He slipped his glasses back on just as Luffy came trudging up to their campsite.

"I can't run anymore," Luffy panted. He dropped down onto his back. "It would be so much easier if my Haki worked on that thing. Ugh! When we finally catch that thing I'm going to grill it up! So hungry! Why don't you chase after that jerk for a while?"

"We're going to have to go after it together," Shachi said.

"Huh? You said we weren't supposed to leave our campsite unprotected," Luffy turned his head to look at him.

"We won't need this campsite if we can get the shard," Shachi replied. "We can't keep running in circles like this. We're not getting anywhere. I think we have a better chance of succeeding if we do this together."

"If you say so," Luffy said. "What are we doing?"

While Luffy rest and caught his breath Shachi revealed to him that the lizard's movements weren't random. He showed Luffy one corner of a tunnel that had a blind spot. He wanted Luffy to wait there while he chased after the lizard. Once the lizard was in sight Luffy was to knock it's lights out with his Armament Haki. Luffy nodded rapidly while Shachi explained the plan. "You got it?"

"Got it!" Luffy nodded.

"All right. Wait until me and the lizard are out of sight, then run to the corner," Shachi said as he stood up. Luffy nodded again as Shachi headed after the lizard. Once they were out of sight, Luffy grabbed the monkey and headed off. He ran down three different tunnels before finally coming to the blind spot Shachi told him about. Tucking himself into it, he waited for Shachi and the lizard to come his way.

Several minutes later, Luffy could hear them coming. He stood ready and waited for him moment to strike. When the lizard came in view, Luffy threw his hardest punch at it, punching it into the wall. The shard fell out of the lizard's mouth on contact.

"You got him!" Shachi cried as he came upon the down lizard and the broken cave wall. "We can get out of here now!"

"Do we have to?" Luffy cracked his knuckles. "I said I was going to grill this sucker up."

Shachi sighed at the one track mind of the Straw Hat captain. The monkey picked up the shard and teleported them away. Luffy blinked and looked around at his and Shachi's new surroundings. "Hey! Where's the lizard?! I'm hungry!"

"Where are we?" Shachi asked.

"A house! They must have food!" Luffy cried dashing towards it.

"Seriously?!" Shachi screeched, following after him. "Is that _all_ you think about?"

"I want food!" Luffy shouted with his fists raised once he had entered the house.

" _Shut up, you idiot_!" Sanji hissed, striking Luffy over the head. " _Neo is sleeping._ "

"Sleeping?" Shachi asked, rushing over to Neo, who was laying on the couch cocooned in a blanket. He kneeled down and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Is she sick?"

"No," Sanji's voice drawled out the word. "She's not sick. Just tired since she's been worried about all of us. What's that smell?"

"What smell?" Luffy asked.

"It's you!" Sanji pointed at Luffy once he got a whiff of his captain. "When's the last time you've bathed?"

"I dunno. The last time we were on the Sunny, I guess," Luffy replied.

"Sorry about the stink. We've been underground chasing after a lizard for the past few weeks with only a river to bath in," Shachi reported.

"Was that Luffy?" Chopper asked as he came down the stairs. "Hey! You two made it!"

"Hey, where the monkey go?" Luffy asked as he looked around. "And why do you have a little orange bug clinging to your cheek?"

"Sanji cutie!" Celeste cooed still with hearts in her eyes.

"It can talk?" Luffy got closer to Sanji.

"Don't stand so close! You smell terrible! Go take a shower! Please!" Sanji shoved Luffy away with his foot. "All the bedrooms upstairs have showers and clothes."

"But I'm hungry!" Luffy shouted.

"Keep it down." Sanji kicked Luffy on the head again. "You'll wake Neo. Get a shower. _Then_ I'll cook you something."

"Aw." Luffy pouted as he head to the stairs. "Fine."

Shachi pulled himself away from Neo and followed Luffy upstairs. A little while later Neo began to wake up just as Shachi and Luffy were coming back downstairs after their much needed shower. She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes then noticed the new comers. "Shachi! Luffy!"

"Hey, princess," Shachi greeted as they rushed to each other. He engulfed her in a hug as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She grabbed Luffy and pulled him into their hug. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. What about you?" Neo said, scanning her eyes over him. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, just a bit tired," Shachi replied.

Neo nodded and summoned her solar crystal. She engulfed Shachi and Luffy in its glow.

"Can we eat now?" Luffy whined.

"Fine." Sanji nodded and headed for the kitchen. The others followed close behind.

"Yeah! Food!" Luffy cried.

Shachi sat down and dropped his head on the table.

"Luffy's driven you nuts, hasn't he?" Sanji asked while he and Elian bustled about the kitchen.

"You have no idea," Shachi said.


	18. Hot & Cold

Hot & Cold

One month. Law thought as he adjusted the tie to his suit. One month since Neo had been taken away from him. One long month they haven't been intimate with each other. And that was going to change tonight. They were going to finally get the shard after one month of listening to rude customers complain about getting the wrong meal-which they didn't-, of female serpents flirting nonstop with him even though he told them time and time again that he was married, hot dishes and cold drinks being spilled on him, kids throwing food like wild animals, and indecisive people who had no idea how to make up their minds about anything. All of it was going to be over tonight one way or another. Either they were going to get the shard or he was going to unleash his Devil Fruit powers on all the crazy morons here. He was hoping it was the first one but the second option was a very close second.

He glanced over at Nami's makeshift changing room that was also her bedroom. The curtain had been pulled around her so she could get dressed and so could he. He had finished a minute ago and had already opened his own curtain. His eyes dropped down to the monkey. It was sitting lifelessly near the smothered out fire. Everything had been planned out to the very last detail two weeks ago. Before heading off to the restaurant to met up with Bindy, they were going to disguise and leave their stuff, monkey included, at the edge of the forest near the mansion. That way once they had finally retrieved the shard he could warp them out, get the stuff, and then leave this place. Neither of them were comfortable with leaving their weapons behind, but they didn't have a choice. No weapons other than the guards were allowed on the grounds due to the constant kidnapping attempts.

Finally, Nami's curtain was jerked back. She too was dressed in the same black and white outfit that he was. It apparently was the thing the restaurant employees wore when catering to clients. It wasn't a bad outfit, just stiff and annoying. At least they didn't have to pay for it. Bindy's dad took care of that. A light touch of guilt wondered through both of the pirates when they were ordered. They were only going to be worn once and then get discarded. But it had to be done. Bindy and the restaurant would be fine.

"Man, this thing is so ugly," Nami said, looking her outfit over. "I hope we don't have to stay long at this place. I'm getting so annoyed with having to serve people."

Law absolutely agreed with her. Leaving was long over due. "At least it'll be over tonight."

"I hope so," Nami said. "I don't think I can handle another day here.

"We should get going," Law said. He adjusted his vest while stepping over to the monkey. He knelt down and addressed it. "It's time. You're going to be staying at the edge of the forest like we talked about. If we're lucky it won't take us more than a couple of hours to find the shard and get back to the forest. Then you can take us to Neo like you said you would."

Law stood back up. He grabbed his sword then led the way to the edge of the forest. Once they had gotten to the right spot, they tucked their weapons underneath some shrubs, making sure they were completely hidden within the small spot they had dug out. Pushing the dirt back over it, they laid some leaves and grass back over it so it looks like it wasn't disturbed. The monkey then climbed up on a near by tree. As far as they could tell no one ever came to this forest, or at least the areas they had been in and scouted out. So they figured their stuff would be fine where it was. Covering was probably unnecessary but they didn't want to take the chance of someone getting a wild idea and wondering over this way and discovering their weapons.

Side by side they headed off to meet with Bindy. Their walk was quite one. They typically were. But this time it was different. It was filled with tension and heavy desire to finally get out of here. They both felt like running to the restaurant so they could make this go faster, but both knew if they got there quicker it still wouldn't get them any closer to getting the shard. They still had about an hour before they left. They still had to load everything in the transporter carts then drive over to the mansion.

Chatter of the ball was heavy over the city. Everyone was talking about it despite not going to it. Some were gathered together to have their own little ball complete with music, dancing, and foods that people had brought to share. The restaurant, however, was silent with the exception of the kitchen. Shouts and commands were given as the people rushed around to get last minute preparations out of the way. The two pirates joined in. Not only because they were suppose to, but mostly because it would help time go by faster. And for the most part, it did. But not enough for Law.

They climbed into the transportation carts, that basically looked like glorified golf carts, and they were off. Bindy addressed them once more. She said, "Well, this is it. We're finally going to get this done. I can't thank you enough for all the help you've given us."

"It was our pleasure," Nami lied.

Law fought back a desire to roll his eyes despite the fact he knew she was lying about it. There was nothing pleasurable about it at all.

"Just remember how you're supposed to address the owners of the house. Master Draco, Mistress Draco, and Mistress Malinda. Everyone else you can just address them as yes sir or ma'am."

"You got it. And worry it's all going to be fine." Nami nodded. "We'll address them properly. _Right_ , Tra?"

Law frowned and narrowed his eyebrows. He didn't like having to address people with such respect like that. He was sick of biting his tongue with rude customers and really didn't want to deal with this prissy family they were getting ready to serve. But he knew it was necessary.

Nami sighed. "Just behave for Neo's sake."

"I know. And I'll address them like I'm suppose to." Law's expression lightened at the sound of Neo's name. Just a little bit longer and he would finally be able to hold her once again. His eyes wondered over to the edge of the forest. They were coming up fast on the mansion and the place where their weapons were stashed. So far he didn't see anyone out there. It would be dark soon so there shouldn't be anything to worry about. He exhaled. Everything was going to be fine. Just a little bit longer and this would be over.

They arrived. Only to stop at the gate for it to be opened, and they were inside. The carts pulled around to the back of the massive house that stood ten stories high. Nami gaped at it while Law couldn't care less on how it looked. Finally the carts pulled to a stop at the back of the mansion. They started unloading the carts and headed inside. Bindy's dad barked out a few orders on how to properly serve the people here, stuff they already had been told, before finally allowing them to move out into the ballroom to serve the guest.

The small cart Law pushed had a squeaky wheel, but it was only a minor annoyance compared to the people he had to deal with. Besides, the cart was going to be pushed to the side. He was going to be carrying around trays of food so it didn't matter. They pushed through the undecorated servants halls. The farther they got down the hall the more they could hear the orchestra playing and people talking happily.

Nami exhaled. "All right. Just keep it cool for a little while longer. We'll find the shard and be out of here in no ti-" The woman's voice trailed off when they finally entered into the ballroom. Both their eyes widened upon what they saw. "H-how…you have _got_ to be kidding me!"

Law eyed the area with distain. All of the walls were covered in mirrors, from wall to wall and from floor to the ceiling. Just about every inch of the mansion's walls were covered in mirrors of all shapes and sizes. Finding the mirror wasn't going to be as easy as they thought it was going to be.

They barely noticed Bindy walking back over to them. She asked, "What's wrong? Why are you just standing there staring? We have a job to do."

"What's with all these mirrors?" Nami asked, breathless. She couldn't peel her eyes away from the mirrors.

"Oh, Mistress Draco has a bizarre obsession with mirrors," Bindy replied like it was nothing out of the ordinary. "They're all over the mansion, in every single room and hallway. She really likes to look at herself. I guess it's a hobby of sorts."

"A hobby?! This is crazy! How in the world are we ever gonna fi-" Nami bit her lip to keep herself from spilling out the real reason they were there.

"What's wrong?" Bindy asked.

"Nothing," Nami replied. "I'm just a bit shocked is all. I've never seen so many mirrors before."

"Okay," Bindy said slowly. "I didn't think they would bother you so much. I guess I should have told you about them. But you need to ignore them for now. We have a lot of work to do. So let's just get to it."

"Of course. Sorry I got distract." Nami nodded.

"It's fine," Bindy said as she walked off.

"This is crazy," Nami said. "How are we going to find this thing?"

"We'll just have to check all the ones we can while we're serving the food," Law said. "Then we'll have to figure out a way to check the rest in the house. At least the one we're looking for doesn't reflect anything. It still should be fairly easy to find it with that on our side."

"I guess your right. But how are we going to be able to search for it when we have to serve these people?" Nami said. "It's not like we can disappear. And surely there are guards wondering around the entire mansion to make sure no one's sneaking around."

"We'll think of something," Law said, but he wasn't sure he believed it. The walls were also lined with armed guards. And with how many times their daughter has been targeted, there was no way a family like this wasn't going to keep every inch of their house guarded. It wasn't going to be easy at all to look for or find their shard while being waiters. Since there was a specific hallway they had to go through there was no way of wondering into others rooms and just claiming they got lost. Plus there were those two guards they first met when they got here. He was sure they were still around here somewhere. The guards could say they saw them on that first day and that would only make things worse for them. They were going to need a way to wonder through the house without raising suspicions. They needed to become guards.

The orchestra silenced. It was followed by a staff being tapped on the floor to gather everyone's attention. It worked. Everyone, including the servers, looked up to the top of the grand staircase. A chamberlain stood at the top. He shouted over the large room so everyone could hear him clearly. He said, "Announcing Master and Mistress Draco!"

The silence was filled with chatters of praise when the two owners stepped out of the double doors at the top of the stairs to be seen by everyone.

"Thank you all for coming to celebrate this joyous occasion of officially presenting our lovely daughter into society," Master Draco boomed in a deep and loud voice. He was fairly tall, broad serpent. His scales were a dark blue and he had black hair. He was wearing a purple robe with a couple thin white striped down the middle of it and a large broach fastened at his neck.

"Yes, thank you all for coming," Mistress Draco greeting softer than her mate. She was wearing a purple velvet dress that matched her husband's robe. Her maroon hair was long, pulled back in a thick braid, and her scales were a dark pink. They stepped aside to allow the chamberlain announce their daughter.

"Announcing Mistress Malinda!" Two guards opened the double doors. A tall, slender young serpent stepped out. Her scales were a soft pink, her hair a few shades darker and her eyes a soft red. Her dress was white and shimmered in the lights. The crowd clapped as the younger boys in the crowd cheered and whistled.

"She seems very popular," Nami said while holding a round tray of food in her hand. She pulled her attention from Malinda and started to serve the guests their appetizers.

Over the next couple of hours, the pirates continued to serve the guests while doing what they could to check the mirrors in the ballroom. So far they couldn't find the one they were looking for. If it was in this room, it was one of the ones that were too high up for them to see if they reflected anything.

Suddenly, the joyous laughter and happy music was broken by the sounds of shattering glass and people screaming. The guests pulled away from the large windows. Standing there were over thirty people dressed in black from head to toe. They wielded all sorts of weapons from swords to bo staffs. The guards charged in. Weapons clashed as more screamed filled the air from the guests scattering around, trying to get out of the way. The intruders scattered, causing more panic. And in the panic, one of them grabbed Malinda.

"Ah! My baby! Someone save my baby!" Mistress Draco shrieked out over the rest of the pandemonium, her trembling hands over her mouth.

"Guards! Stop them!" Master Draco shouted, more composed but equally as upset as his mate.

…

"Now's our chance!" Law claimed as he dropped the tray he was holding and warped his and Nami's weapons into his hands.

"Our chance for what?" Nami asked as he threw her weather baton at her. She fumbled with it before finally securing it in her hands. She didn't get an answer. Law was already running after the one who grabbed Malinda. She ran after them. "Hey! Tra! What's going on?!"

Law didn't bother with answering her or paying any attention to the guards as they tried desperately to fight off the intruders. Done with wasting time in running, he formed his Room and warped himself out into the yard, landing directed between the kidnappers and the wall. Using his surprised arrival, he used his Room and sword to separated their body parts, freeing the girl. He watched as they struggled to over come their surprise, but his powers were so unusual they just stayed there floating in the air. They didn't even speak. Something he thought was odd. Usually his victims always cried out in surprise. So why were these being so quiet? Something about this didn't seem right.

"What the heck, Tra?!" Nami demanded when she finally caught up to him. "You could have told me you were going to do that!"

"I wasn't expecting it," Law said.

"Like heck you weren't!" Nami snapped.

Law, ignoring the irate woman, sheathed his sword and walked over to Malinda. He paused when he noticed her expression was lacking in fear. In fact she was glaring at him. Another thing that was out of place.

"Malinda!" Mistress Draco cried as she and Master Draco came running up to them with a few guards following.

"Mama!" Malinda's expression instantly changed upon hearing her parents' voices. She became distressed and cried as her mother dropped to her side and pulled her into a hug. "Mama! Oh, Mama, I was so frightened!"

"I know, my poor baby. There, there. Mama's here." Mistress Draco stroked her daughter's hair. "My poor sweet baby."

"Well, I don't know who you two are, but you sure know how to fight," Master Draco said as he eyed the severed men.

The guards stood around, curiously and in complete shock, trying to figure out how these intruders were still alive. "How is this possible?"

"Is it witch craft?"

"They're not dead?"

"I must insist you join my guard. We could really use a strong guard like you to protect our daughter. With this ability of yours, you'll be unstoppable and came protect my daughter at any cost. Please? If you can protect my daughter like you just did I insure that you would be pay handsomely, very handsomely. I spare no expense when it comes to my daughter's safety."

"I accept under one condition," Law said.

"What is that?" he asked.

Law nodded at Nami. "She becomes a guard as well."

"I do?" Nami raised an eyebrow at him.

"Despite the fact she might not look it, she is very powerful herself," Law said.

"Hey!" Nami protested.

"Well," Master Draco said, stroking his chin while eyeing Nami. "I don't know. She doesn't look like she can handle these multiple kidnappings on my daughter."

"I assure you she can," Law said.

"Oh, very well then. We could use all the help we can get." Master Draco waved an arm towards the mansion. "I'll see to it that the captain of the guard sets you up with the proper attire and gives you a full tour of our property."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Mistress Draco smiled through her tears. "You have no idea how traumatizing this whole ordeal has been. Malinda, say your thanks."

"Of course, Mama." Malinda turned her eyes to the pirates, clear contempt for them shown despite the sweetness in her words. "Thank you so much. I shall sleep a lot better with you as my guards tonight."

"Come, my child. Let us get you inside. You must rest now." Mistress Draco helped her daughter stand up and they headed back inside the mansion.

Bindy walked over to Law and Nami. Her eyes filled with wonder showing that she had apparently seen what Law had done. "Wow. That was incredible. I know you two said you can fight, but…Wow!"

"Sorry, I guess we won't be able to work for you anymore," Nami said.

"Don't worry about that." Bindy waved her hand. "You've done more than enough for us. We won't have another event like this for a while so things will settle down and we might be able to get more workers. Besides, I'd take the job offer too if I had your kind of skills." She looked over at the still divided kidnappers as they were being hauled off. "Amazing. Maybe working here will help you get your memories back. Maybe you did something like this before?"

"It's possible," Nami said, noting that Draco was waiting for them with a slight annoyance on his face. "Sorry, but we need to get going."

"Oh, yes, of course," Bindy said. "I'm sure we'll see each other at some point."

"Uh, yeah," Nami said despite knowing they wouldn't. "See you later."

Law leaded the way over to the serpent waiting for them. Heading back inside they found maids were already sweeping up the broken glass while the guests muttered nervously.

"I'm sorry but I must end the party. My family needs time to recover from this. Please, see yourselves out. And that you very much for coming," Master Draco announced. "Volos?"

"Yes, sir?" Volos, one of the serpents they had be when they first arrived here, walked over. His eyes widened upon seeing the pirates.

"These two are our new security guards," Master Draco said. "Supply them with the proper gear and show them around the grounds."

"Of course, sir." Volos nodded. He turned his attention back to the pirates when the boss walked off. "Well, this is a surprise. I didn't expect to see you two like this."

"Yeah, same here," Nami said.

"Well, come with me and I'll get you set up with your uniforms and you can tell me what's going on," Volos said.

They gave him a condensed version of what they had told Bindy about their memories and how they ended up getting a job here. Surprisingly, the serpent accepted the decisions of his boss without complain. The pirates thought it was a little too easy for this to be happening, but they weren't going to complain either. This job got them what they needed. And they took advantage of it. While being showed around the mansion, they looked into as many mirrors as they could.

It wasn't until later that night after the owners had gone to bed did they get their chance in searching the manor better. Nami used her weather baton to create clouds to view some of the higher up ones while Law used his Room to bring some down to him. Both were getting agitated after search for over half the night for the correct mirror.

"Maybe she doesn't keep it out here in any of the halls," Nami said, glancing in a mirror. "We still have a lot of rooms to search. Let's think about this for a moment. This shard would be different from the rest. So it would probably be put somewhere special."

"And where would that be?" Law asked. "Her bedroom? You want to go in there?"

"We might not have a choice," Nami said.

"Let's just keep looking for a while longer," Law said.

Nami sighed. Maybe he was correct. They should jump to conclusions just yet. Turning to another room, he reached for the doorknob. They walked into the room. Both jumped when an unexpected voice spoke out to them. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you two to get here."

A light clicked on, revealing Malinda wearing a simple shirt and pants. Sitting in her lap with her hands over it was their shard.

Nami and Law stared at it, both ready to pounce on it.

"Before you think about taking this from me," Malinda pulled out small rectangular box with a red button on its top, "consider that all I have to do is press this button and all of the guards will come to this room." She smiled when they relaxed. "I was wondering why you two kept looking at my mother's mirrors at the ball. It didn't take me too long to realize you were looking for a certain one. I assume this is the one you are looking for considering it's the _only_ strange mirror my mother has. Why wouldn't it be this one?"

"What do you want?" Nami asked.

"I want you two to get me out of here," Malinda replied.

"What?" Nami gasped. "What do you mean?"

"You," Malinda pointed at Law, "foiled my escape plans earlier. To make up for that, you have to get me out of here. I know you can do it. I saw you appearing in front of us out of no where."

"That would explain why you weren't upset over being almost kidnapped," Law stated.

"What do you mean?" Nami looked at him.

"Before her parents arrived she wasn't upset at all over being kidnapped. In fact she was upset that we stop it from happening. She only turned on the water works and pretended to be upset when her parents arrived," Law explained. "All of these kidnapping attempt happened on _her_ _orders_. Am I correct?"

Malinda smiled.

"But why?" Nami turned her eyes back to Malinda. "Why set up your own kidnapping?"

"You're a smart man to have figured that out so quickly. It was all for fun." Malinda shrugged. "This place is so boring. I'm tired of all the rules, dresses, makeup, balls, my parents doting over me…it's beyond annoying. I hate it. I'm being smothered here. I'm not allow to do anything without them following me around or having guards follow me around. I want to have _fun_. I want to have a real life. I want to experience life." She paused for a beat. "And while we're on the subject of confessing, I'm also responsible for Bindy's restaurant not about to keep people hired on there. I was paying people off to quit or threatening them into quitting. I was trying to stop that ridiculous ball my parents wanted from happening. Unfortunately, you two morons came along and that plan crumbled. I was forced to go to the stupid ball again and be ogled over. I can't have fun if I'm stuck behind these stupid walls. I want out of here. And you two are going to help me with that."

"You've got to be kidding!" Nami shouted.

"I know you can do it." Malinda pointed at Law. "As I already said, I saw you appearing in front of us before we could get to the wall. And I know you brought that sword of yours to you with whatever you used. You didn't have it before. And if it were too close to the grounds the guards would have found it and took it. I don't know who you people really are and I really don't care of finding out. All I want is for you two to get me out of here. _Tonight_. If you do that, I'll give you this mirror. Do we have a deal?"

"Do we really have any choice?" Nami asked.

"Of course," Malinda said. "You can choose to do it or not do it."

"Fine. We'll do it. Room." Law formed a room and warped them into the forest.

Malinda took in a deep breath of the forest air. She spun around a couple of times. "Finally! Freedom! I have freedom!"

"Give us the shard now," Law growled, holding out his hand for it.

"Very well." Malinda handed him the shard. "A deal is a deal. I can't thank you enough for setting me free of my prison."

"What are you going to do now that you're out?" Nami asked. "Where will you go? Your parents will be looking for you as soon as they notice you're gone."

"I'll be long from this sector before they even noticed I'm missing. And those who attacked the mansion tonight are friends of mine that have been trying to set me free," Malinda explained. "They might not have been able to handle Mr. Grumpy here, but they can handle everyone else just fine. They'll escape from the guards in no time at all. I know where their hideout is. I'll just go there and wait for them. Then, who knows? We'll travel all over! And when the Time Spheres start working again we'll leave this place and go see other domes. So, later!"

"She's just crazy," Nami said as Malinda ran off.

Law didn't hear her as he stared at the shard in his hand. His heart was pounding so hard in finally being able to see his love again. His eyes blurred. He felt the shard being pulled from his hands, but didn't try and stop it.

"Huh?" Nami lightly gasped when the forest disappeared and was replaced with a smaller one and a clock shaped house. "Where are we?"

Law's heart skipped five entire beats. He could sense her.

…

Neo was sleeping on the couch when suddenly her eyes snapped up. She shot up from the couch, startling everyone.

"Neo, what's wrong?" Chopper asked.

She didn't reply. She summoned her wings and flew over to the door. Flinging it open, she flew right out and into his arms. Wrapping her arms around his neck while her legs went around his waist. "Law!"

Law dropped his sword the second he saw her. Once she was close enough, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as tightly to him as she could. "Neo…"

Neo lifted off of hims and instantly closed her mouth over his.

"Hey, you two finally made it!" Sanji said as he and the others rushed out the door.

"Captain!" Shachi cried.

"All right! Tra and Nami made it!" Luffy cheered.

"Nami!" Chopper ran up to his crewmate and jumped onto her arms.

"Chopper! Luffy! Sanji!" Nami caught the reindeer and smiled. "Wait. What's that thing hanging on your cheek?"

"Sanji cutie!" the thing on Sanji's cheek purred.

"This is Celeste. She's one of the Time Sprites that's been taking care of Neo while we've been gone," Sanji said.

"What?" Nami asked.

"I'll explain later in detail," Sanji said. He chuckled when his eyes drifted to Law and Neo's heated kiss. "I'm sure we all are happy for you two, but, um, if you are going to continue doing that you might want to consider getting a room first."

The need for air and their burning lungs was the only thing that separated them. Neo smiled lightly as she dragged her hands through his hair. He pecked her lips. She took his hat off and placed it back on him where it belonged. He smiled and pecked her lips again. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," Neo replied softly.

"Come on," Sanji said. "We better exchange stories now."

Neo wrapped her arms back around him, pressing her lips to neck, sucking gently, as he started to carry her over to the chairs were the rest of their friends had sat down. At that point she had no choice but to unwrap her legs from him.

Shachi picked up his captain's sword and followed them over to the chairs. He sat down near them, keeping his hold on the sword while they clung to each other. He turned his eyes back to the others as stories of what's been happening were exchanged.

…

"I'm so glad you're here," Neo whispered.

"So am I," Law said. "We're never going to be separated again."

"There is something I need to tell you," Neo said, pulling away from him a bit.

Worry shot through his eyes. His hand went to her stomach. "Is our baby-"

"Our baby's just fine," Neo said, placing her hand over his. "Chopper has been monitoring us both since he got here."

Law sighed, happy to hear that news.

"It's about Pendulum," Neo said. "He…he took me back to the past. I saw you. When you were…"

"Shh." Law pressed his finger to her lips, silencing her. "I know he did. I remembered you and the others."

"Do you think that's why you found me?"

"I don't know," Law said. "It's possible that I subconsciously remembered you went I found you. But this changes nothing. I love you and I always will."

"And I you," Neo said.

"Ah, you two are so cute together. I can see why she loves you so much," an unfamiliar voice to Law's ears said.

Law turned his eyes to Neo's shoulder where the voice came from. He saw a tiny person sitting on his love with sparkling eyes. With his own eyes narrowing in on the thing, he pinched it between two fingers and lifted it off her. "Don't touch her!"

"Calm down, love." Neo placed her hand on his wrist. "She's a friend. She, her brother, and Celeste have been keeping me company while we waiting for you all to come back."

"So protective," Velocity swooned. She placed her hands to her heart as Law released her from his hold.

"I officially disown you," Elian reported while he watched his sister float dramatically down to the ground in pure bliss. "Anyway, I'm sure you two are tired from your journey. We have showers and attire inside if you wish to use them."

"A shower sounds great," Nami said while standing up. "I smell like cooking oil."

"I'll show you the way. My sister's kind of busy," Elian said, shooting his still swooning sister a disapproving look. "Princess, I'm sure you'll take care of your helpmate yourself."

"Would you like a shower?" Neo asked. Her eyes dropped down to his guard uniform. "Why are you wearing _that_?"

"I could ask the same of you." Law tugged on the shirt she was wearing before standing up with her in his arms.

"Not my style," Neo said. "But it's all we have. Let's go up to my room."

Law nodded and carried her inside the house. Following her direction, he managed to make it to her current room and over to the closet. He sat her down and captured her lips once more before letting her get him a towel and washcloth. He then let her led him over to the bathroom. Reaching into the shower, he turned it on then turned back to her. Smiling, he hooked his fingers into her pants and pulled them and her underwear off. When he stood back up, he pressed a kiss to their growing baby then proceeded to take off her shirt and bra. After shedding his clothes, with her help, they stepped into the water.

Neo bathed him in between their kisses and roaming of their hands.

"I think I'm about to break the no sex in the shower rule," Law said through heated pants. "It's been far too long."

"Maybe there's something I can do about that," Neo said, fumbling for the knobs to shut the water off. Once it was, she summoned her wind and fire crystals. Simultaneously, she dried them off and flew them back into the bedroom.

…

"One month and two days," Usopp grumbled. He hammered in his ice pick with each word he said. "One blasted month and two blasted days."

"It had been quite a while since we've been here," Brook said. He looked around the room they were in. They hadn't gotten very far with this place. And their patience was wearing thin. This wasn't work they were use to. This over all wasn't a place they were use to.

"I want to leave!" Usopp growled. "Chipping at ice then going back to the house to sit and stare at the walls! How can anyone live like this and be happy?! How can they be happy with doing nothing?!"

"It is rather boring compared to our pirate lives," Brook said. "How about a song? That'll cheer you up."

"I don't want to hear a song!" Usopp snapped. "I want to get that shard and get out of here!" He tossed his tools to the ground. They clattered angrily at the treatment. "I'm sick of this place! I want to go back to the Sunny!"

"I know," Brook said. "But we don't have any choice."

…

"Here you go, Papa," Bijou said as she handed her father a cup of hot steaming liquid. He thanked her as she pushed herself upon the ice desk in the lobby. Leaning over, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand, she watched the two of the new workers that have been with them for just over a month. Curiously, she watched as Usopp yelled something at Brook. "Papa, what do you really think of those three workers with us?"

"What do you mean by that?" Gnash asked taking another sip of his drink.

"Well, it's just, they've been here for a month and two days," Bijou replied. "Yet we really don't know anything about them. They don't seem to care about talking about themselves while we've told them everything about us. And what's with the monkey they always have with them? Usopp said that thing is their pet. But they don't ever play with him. They don't feed him or walk him. They do nothing. I don't think I've even seen it eat on its own. They came here with no money, no place to live, no proper winter attire…"

"Enough, Bijou. I'm sure they have their reason for not telling us about themselves," Gnash said, as he started chipped away at the ice again. "If they wish to tell us why they are so down on their luck they will. Now, I know I've taught my daughter not to pry into one's life. So don't you go bothering them with all of your questions."

"I'm not prying, Papa," Bijou replied. "I'm just curious. Bepo's kind of cute. He can be so oddly timid at times. I'd like to know more about him. Maybe…I don't know…hang out on a more personal level than what we have been doing."

"All right, back to work, young lady," Gnash said after clearing his throat. "You're here to work on this building not work on getting a date."

Bijou giggled as she hopped off the desk. She wondered back over to her work spot and picked up her stools, settling back into her work.

…

Usopp groaned before letting his face slam against the ice wall. He slid down it and flopped onto the icy floor. "I can't do this anymore. My arms hurt so much. I think they're about to fall off. I'm so sick of this all. I'm sick of ice. I'm sick of snow. I'm sick of the cold. I quit."

"You can't quit now," Brook said while pausing at chipping the ice away. He looked over at the hard working bunnies before looking into the room where Bepo was. The bear was chipping away at the wall where they knew the shard was with the monkey standing near him. They all wanted to chip away at that section but when they tried it the bunnies said they needed to be working on other pairs and separated them from Bepo. "We're working as hard as we can to find the shard. Just be a little bit more patient. I'm impressed that they keep doing this day after day. They must have very strong bodies."

"Oh shut up!" Usopp snapped. "You should already know that by now!"

"My, my, aren't you cranky." Brook laughed.

"Cranky?!" Usopp jumped back up to his feet. "I have every right to be cranky! I'm sick of this place! Didn't you hear me a minute ago? My arms are about to fall off! My nose and lips are beyond chapped! I'm going to need an entire boatload of lotion to get it soft again! I'm sick of this place! I want to go back to the Sunny! I want to see our friends again! I want to know for sure that they're all right! And I'm sick of eating rabbit food and fish! Seriously! When we finally do get back I'm forbidding Sanji from ever serving vegetables and fish again! I want steak! I want some sea pig meat! _I want meat_! Do you hear me?!"

"You sound just like Luffy." Brook laughed again.

"Will you stop taking this so lightly?!" Usopp jumped on the tall skeleton and started to strangle him.

"What are you doing?!" Brook asked.

"I'm going to kill you!" Usopp said. "That's what!"

"But I'm already dead," Brook said.

"Shut up!" Usopp growled.

"Excuse me?" an unfamiliar voice rang out from the entrance of the building. "We were sent here from the foundation."

"Huh?" Everyone stopped working and looked at the group of six bunnies that just walked into the ice building carrying tools.

"Hey, Pops, I'm abo-" Kobet came walking out of the room he was working in and paused when he saw the new workers. "Who are you?"

"What's going on?" Tippy asked as he and Jigsaw started down the stairs. "Who are you?"

"We're from the foundation," the worker said again. "Sorry for taking so long to get here."

"But we already have help from the foundation," Bijou said as she looked over at Brook and Usopp.

"Looks like the jig is up," Brook said calmly.

"Oh crap," Usopp cursed as he pulled himself off Brook.

"Wait this doesn't make any sense," Tippy said. "You three said you were from the foundation and now more show up claiming the same thing."

"What jig? Who the heck are you people?!" Jigsaw demanded as he tapped one of his tools in his hand.

"Oh, well, you see," Usopp stuttered as he tried to think up a lie.

…

Bepo, unaware of what was going on just a few feet away from him, smiled as he chipped away the last bit of ice to reveal the shard they were after. He pulled it out of the ice and peered into the reflection-less object. He then turned and ran over to the others. Without thinking he shouted out the good new. He said, "Hey! I finally got it! We can leave now!"

"Great! Let's go!" Usopp said as he grabbed Brook and ran over to the bear. He grabbed the shard from Bepo and shook it. "We have you! Now get us out of here! Do you hear me?! Let's go! Now!"

"What do you have? What's going on? Just who are you people?" Gnash asked as all the bunnies started moving towards them.

They all looked upset and confused. Bijou looked hurt. She looked at Bepo and asked, "Bepo? What's going on? Did you lie to us?"  
"I'm sorry." Bepo ducked his head.

"You lied to us?" Gnash narrowed his eyes at them.

"Calm down." Brook held up his hands. "We meant no harm."

"You three had better start talking," Gnash said as he held out his ice pick to the three pirates. "I mean now! Who are you people? What was you're real reason for being here?"

"Talk now! Or else we're going to beat it out of you!" Jigsaw said.

"Ah!" Usopp shouted. In his hysterical dance he didn't notice the monkey taking the shard from his hand. "I don't wanna die! Luffy! Sanji! Zoro! Someone save me!"

"Hey, Usopp," Brook tapped the sniper's shoulder. "We're no longer in the ice hotel."

"What?" Usopp paused midair. He looked around the warm weather dome they were now in. "Wow. We're really not there anymore. This is so great." He started taking off his parka. "We can finally get rid of these things."

"Hey! Usopp! Brook! Bepo!" Luffy called out to them as he left the house. "You guys made it!"

"Luffy!" Usopp turned to his captain just as Luffy pounced on him and Brook. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Usopp! Brook!" Chopper replied, joining Luffy. "You're finally here! This is great!"

"We can't wait to tell you what's been going on!" Luffy said with a huge smile.

"You won't believe what we've been up to as well," Brook said.

"Hey! Bepo!" Shachi said, coming out of the house. "Neo's going to be so happy to see you!"

"Where is she?" Bepo asked. "Is she all right?"  
"She's fine," Shachi said. "She's taking a nap with the captain."

"The captain's here?" Bepo said, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah." Shachi nodded. "Blackleg and Nami are here as well. They're in the kitchen with the sprites."

"The sprites?" Usopp asked.

"Never mind that for now," Shachi said. "We'll exchange stories over lunch."

"Lunch?! Yes! We finally get some of Sanji's cooking!" Usopp said, drool ran out of his mouth live a river. "I can't wait!"

"It won't be what you're use to," Chopper said. "They have different food here."

"As long as it's not rabbit food or fish, I don't care," Usopp said.

As the group headed inside, the two remaining former ice workers took off their heavy coats and ditched them on the ground. Once inside, Bepo walked over to the couch where Law was holding Neo close to his chest. The captain had his left arm around her, snuggly tucking her into his side, and his right elbow was on the armrest with his cheek resting against his fist. Both had their eyes closed in peaceful slumber.

Law opened his eyes when he sensed the bear near. A smile formed on his lips. "Bepo."

"Good to see you too, Captain," Bepo greeted him as he kneeled down to look at Neo. He blinked a couple times and tilted his head at the sleeping woman in his captain's arms. He smiled upon seeing how big Neo's stomach was now. "Are they healthy?"

"They are." Law gently shook Neo, knowing she would want to know the second the rest of their crew arrived.

She hummed and shifted closer to his warmth from the disturbance before opening her eyes. She blinked in confusion at his smile before following his eyes. She smiled when she saw Bepo. Jumping from the couch, she hugged the bear. "Bepo! You're here!"

"Neo!" Brook and Usopp said.

"Brook! Usopp!" Neo held out her hand for them to come over to her. They obeyed and joined in on the hugging. "How are you? Are you hurt?"

"We're a bit sore from having to carve out an ice hotel," Usopp said.

"Ice hotel?" Neo summoned her solar crystal and engulfed them in it.

"You can talk over lunch," Sanji said, appearing in the room with Celeste still clinging to his cheek. "It's ready."

"Great! I'm starving!" Usopp jumped up from the floor and ran into the kitchen. The others followed at a slower pace. "It smells so good!"

Sitting down, the group once again exchanged stories on what they had gone through.

"Man, that guy really likes to torture us, doesn't he?" Usopp leaned back in his chair, his stomach now full of food. "I wonder what he really wants those shards for."

"We'll probably never know," Nami said.

…

"Bepo?" Neo wondered out onto the balcony of her room that they all were still sharing. "What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing," Bepo replied. "Just thinking."

"About Bijou?" Neo asked.

"Yeah." Bepo nodded.

"You're concerned about lying to her like you did," Neo said.

Bepo nodded again.

"You liked her."

Another nod.

"I know you feel guilty." Neo wrapped her arms around his, leaning against him. "But you don't have to. You had to do it. There was no other choice."

"I know," Bepo said. "And I'll do it over again just to get back to you."

"We all would," Neo said. "If she knew the truth, I'm sure she'd understand why you did it."

"I just wish I could tell her now," Bepo said.

"I can understand that," Neo said. "But you can't. We most likely won't ever see this place again once we're done here."

"I guess you're right," Bepo said.

"So, no more worrying?" Neo asked.

"No more worrying." Bepo smiled.

"Good," Neo said.

"Neo, time for bed," Law said from the door.

"You coming?" Neo asked.

"No, I'm going to stay up for a while longer," Bepo said.

"All right then," Neo said, pecking his furry cheek. "Don't stay up for too much longer."

"Yes, Captain," Bepo said.

Neo walked away from him. She slid her arm around Law's waist as his went around her shoulders. She climbed in bed first. Settling down, she glanced back over at Bepo. "Will he be all right?"  
"He will be," Law said. "He'll forget about her in time."

"I'm just glad she wasn't a polar bear," Neo said honestly. "Can you imagine what he'd be like if she was?"  
"I can," Law said. "So I'm glad as well that she was a bunny instead of a polar bear."

"We're close to getting everyone back," Neo said. "I hope they get here soon. I'm ready to go home."

"They'll be here soon," Law said. "Now go to sleep."

Neo nodded. Snuggling down into his side, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to the beating of his heart and Luffy's snoring.


	19. Lost & Found

Lost & Found

Four weeks. It had been an entire month since the three pirates had been trapped on that small sub. But finally, _finally_ , they arrived close to where the shard was. The sub pulled up into a cavern. The walls were a sparkling blue from tiny little aquatic creatures crawling around on it. Other sea plants were also clinging to the walls. It looked as almost like someone had created this place on purpose.

"This place is incredible," Topaz said.

"It is," Robin agreed.

"It's like another world down here," Penguin said. "I can't believe there's another island down here. I thought we were going to have to be under the water all the time."

"We might still have to be," Topaz said. "There could be other caverns like this in this place."

"The only way to know for sure is to go out and explore," Robin said.

"Might as well," Penguin said. "It didn't look like there were any other paths big enough that would lead us to the shard." With a click, he was freed from his chair. He moved over to the ladder, climbed up, and with a few clicks and clangs, the hatch was open. He climb out and jumped down to the ground. Soon the women and monkey had joined him. "Let's go."

The four headed off towards another opening. When they passed through it they found what they were expecting. Trees, shrubs, flowers, and everything else that was found on other islands, were found here. Penguin looked up at the sky. Somehow there was light down here despite there being no signs of the sun anywhere. "How is this possible?"

"I don't have a clue," Topaz said as she was having the same thoughts as he was.

"There has to be a light source around here somewhere," Robin said. "Otherwise these plants wouldn't be thriving."

Topaz hummed.

"What is it, Topaz?" Penguin asked.

"I can't sense any animals down here, but I am sensing some kind of aquatic life," Topaz said, narrowing her eyebrows. "I think they're watching us."

"Maybe it's the natives," Robin offered.

"Possibly," Topaz said. "They could be scared of new comers. Just be on your guard."

The other two pirates nodded. They scanned their eyes over their surroundings, eyeing all the possible hiding spots someone or something could hid behind. Then they saw it. Something crawled out of the bushes. The pirates halted, the monkey stood still. They couldn't believe what they saw. It was a fish like creature, but not like the ones they were use to seeing. This one was green all over with darker green spots peppering its skin. It's toes and fingers were webbed, a fin ran over it's head and down to its tailbone, its eyes were a light green with a vertical black slit, and it's lips were full like a fish. It also wasn't wearing any clothes, but there were also no distinguishable body parts that would suggest whether it was male or female. Though it was wearing some kind of golden jewelry that looks like it attacked to its wrist with claws.

"What is that thing?" Penguin asked.

"I don't know," Topaz said.

Robin nodded in agreement.

The thing seemed to be as curious as they were about it. Since it didn't run from them they figured it wasn't going to harm them, but they stood ready just incase. Then more of them started moving out of the bushes until there was about fifty of them surrounding them, all wearing the same piece of jewelry as the first one.

"Maybe we shouldn't have left the sub," Penguin said.

"I don't think they're going to hurt us," Topaz said. "I think they're…I think they're curious about us."

"Curious?" Robin mumbled. She watched cautiously as the creatures started moving closer to them. Soon the creatures were close enough to poke them. And they did until they were sure that the pirates wouldn't hurt them. One sniffed up Robin's arm until it got to her neck. It then pulled back and gave her a head tilt.

"Okay, that's nice," Penguin said as two sniffed him. He jumped and pushed them away when their hands reached between his legs. "Oh okay! That's enough of that! Neo would not approve!"

"I wonder if those two are female," Topaz said with a chuckled. She placed her hand on one of the creature's head. "We should look a little farther for _it_."

"Might as well," Penguin said. "It doesn't appear these creatures can speak our language."

"Topaz, can you talk to them?" Robin asked.

"Hello," Topaz said. "Can you tell me what you are? Oh? Is that so? They said they're the ones who live here. And they've been living here their entire lives. They're basically this world's mermaids."

"Well, at least we can talk about the shard around them without breaking the rules. They can't understand a thing we say in English," Penguin said. He looked down at the monkey. "Show me the map."

The monkey did as requested.

"Looks like it's not far from here," Penguin said. He then led the way with the creatures following after them. After ten minutes of walking, they came to a round hole in the ground. It led them to the sea again. He looked at the map and frowned. The shard was down there but the tunnel was way too small for the sub and the distance was too far for any of them to swim to it and not drown. He sat down on the ground. "Great. Now what?"

"Too bad we can't tell these creature about what we're doing here," Topaz said, her hand still on one creature's head. "They could get it in no time. Maybe we can rig up some type of breathing device?"

"That could be a possibility," Robin said. "But we have no idea exactly how far the shard is down there. The rocks could also be sharp and cut a hole in the tubing we use if we could find anything that is."

"This sucks," Penguin said. He picked up a rock and tossed it into the water. "We're this close and now we're stuck."

"Hm?" Topaz looked at the one she was petting when it spoke to her. "Oh, we need to get something of ours that is down in the water but we can't breathe underwater. What? Are you serious?"

"What is it?" Penguin asked.

"They said there's a way for us to breathe underwater," Topaz said.

"How is that possible?" Robin asked.

"Apparently they have a device that can help us," Topaz said. "They said that others like us have used them before."

"Seriously?" Penguin asked.

"Should we do it then?" Robin asked. "It seems a bit too easy and convenient."

"Well, Pendulum said that he would give us what we need," Penguin said. "So this has to be part of it, right?"

The pirates went quiet. Despite this golden opportunity right in their faces, none of them immediately jumped on it.

"We should just do it," Topaz said, not sounding all that sure. "We don't have any other choice."

"Then we should accept their offer as long as there aren't any risks involved," Robin said.

"I guess so," Penguin said. "Go ahead, Topaz. Tell them we accept."

Topaz nodded slowly. "All right. We accept. What do we need to do?"  
The creatures held out three jewelry pieces like they were wearing. The pirates took them, but for Robin.

"We just attach them to our wrists," Topaz said. "They said it might hurt for a while, but we should be able to swim."

"Sorry," Robin said when the creature pushed the thing towards her. "I can't go in the sea."

"She can't go in the sea," Topaz said. "If she does, she'll drown even with this device on. It's a long story."

The creature pulled away from Robin. For a split second it didn't looked very pleased with Robin declining the jewelry.

"How long will this take?" Penguin said placing the thing on his wrist. He flinched when the prongs on it pierced his skin. "Ouch. I didn't know it was going to burrow into us like that."

Topaz flinched too, blood dripping down their skin. "I hope this works. A few minutes, I think. I'm not sure of the word they actually used."

"Then we just wait," Penguin said.

A few minutes later, pain shot through their arms. It spread over their bodies. Their skin started changing colors. Robin's eyes widened at the transformation. She said, "Are you two all right?"

"We're…we're fine," Topaz said.

Robin narrowed her eyebrows. She didn't have a good feeling about this. With no other choice, she stood there watching as her friends changed into the same creatures as the ones who give them the jewelry, only their clothes remained. She felt a little better about not accepting it. If they needed help, she could get some, she hoped.

"Yeah, we're fine," Penguin said. The pain seemed to be fading.

"They said we can go in now," Topaz said. "Will you be all right here?"

"I will." Robin nodded.

"If we find the shard we'll bring it back up," Topaz said. "But for now we're just going to look around."

Robin nodded again. She watched as her two friends jumped into the small opening. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the pleased looks on the creatures' faces. Her bad feeling grew. She hoped that her friends would find the shard immediately and come back so they could leave.

…

The cool water rushed over their skin as they dove in. It was a strange sense of freedom like they never felt before. The water was dark. But they had perfect vision. Their webbed fingers make swimming through the water strikingly easy. They were surrounded by several tunnels and had no idea which one was the one they need. So they swam down one, eyes scanning all over the darkness. They saw nothing and turned down a tunnel. Without realizing it, they started swimming around more playfully instead of looking for the shard.

…

Robin sat for several hours waiting for her friends to return. She hoped they didn't get lost down there. Glancing over at the creatures that were still watching her. She had no clue why they didn't go in the water. Surely being fish creatures they need to get wet occasionally. Still they remained, always watching her. Then splashes brought her attention back to the hole. Penguin and Topaz had returned. She sighed, relieved. "I'm so glad you're all right. You were down there for so long."

"Sorry," Topaz said. "There were a lot of tunnels down there."

"And we got distracted by swimming," Penguin said. "It's amazing. You should really join us."

Robin kneaded her eyebrows. Something about that was completely wrong. He knew she shouldn't go in the water. But before she could say anything, the creatures gathered around Topaz and Penguin.

"Thanks. It was great," Topaz said, as they were led away. "It was so much fun. We'll have to swim together. Hey, Robin! They're going to feed us now! Come on!"

Robin watched them go before standing up and following them with the monkey by her side. They were lead into a lagoon where they were fed different types of fishes and other things that they couldn't place. Penguin and Topaz dug right in to it all like they didn't care about the unidentifiable items. Robin stuck to fish. She remained quiet, feeling like an outsider again in this moment.

…

Law yawned and ran a hand through his wild hair as he left the bathroom. Wondering back over to the bed, he smiled when he saw his love sleeping peacefully. At some point since he left the bed she had shifted and pushed the covers down to her hips, exposing her flesh to him. He couldn't help but eye the hickeys he had left all over her body from their recent intimacy. A smirk formed over his lips. He crawled back under the covers. Pressing his lips to her shoulder before pulling the blanket up over her cool skin. He then slipped his hand over her side and cradled their child. With a content sigh, he laid down and closed his eyes.

Neo curled into herself. A confusing dream of Penguin changing somehow filtered into her mind. She whimpered. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up with a gasp. "Penguin!"

"Neo?" Law said up, placing his hand on her back.

"Something's wrong with Penguin," Neo said. "He's…they're all in trouble. Topaz and Robin. They're together. Something's happening to them."

"Okay." Law pressed his lips to her temple. "They'll be okay. They're strong."

"I know, but I'm worried," Neo said. "I want them back."

"They'll be here soon," Law said, kissing her neck. "Just breath."

Neo took in a deep breath and released it.

"Good girl." Law licked her ear then gently pressed her back down to the bed, trailing his lips over her neck and up to her lips. He murmured against them. "Let me distract you."

"Again?" Neo asked.

"You really don't want to?" Law smirked at her.

Neo wrapped her arm around his neck. "I never said that." She pulled him to her lips.

…

Over the next two weeks that they had been here in this strange underground place, Robin watched as her two friends become more and more distant from her. She tired to talk to them about the shard in the first few days, they told her to relax. Then, suddenly, they showed signs of not knowing what she was talking about at all. And that's where they were again. She said, "What's wrong with you two?"

Topaz and Penguin looked at her, tilting their heads like they didn't understand what she was saying. They turned from her and started to head off from her, ready to go swimming again with their new _friends_. She continued, "Penguin! Topaz! What about _Neo_!"

They stopped and looked back at her. She got to them, at least a bit. Neo was the key. "Think about your sister. She's waiting for us. We have to get the shard and get back to her." Her eyes dropped to the jewelry on their wrists. It had to be those that caused this. It didn't happen to her because she never put one on. It had to be those. "It's those bracelets! They changed you! These creatures are not our friends! Our _real friends_ are waiting for us!"

The creatures made some strange grumbling noises before walking up to Robin and grabbing her. She tried to cross her arms over her chest, but they pinned them down. They started to pull her away from her friends. Her heart thumped wildly. She had no idea where they could possibly take her. "Penguin! Think about Neo! She's scared and waiting for us! We have to get back to her!"

One of the creatures said something to Penguin in their native tongue. He turned and dove into the water. Topaz remained on the edge of the water, clearly unsure of what to do as Robin kept getting drugged away.

"You won't take them away from us," an unfamiliar voice said.

Robin looked around, wondering who had said that.

"We _need_ them," the voice said again.

Robin's eyes widened when she saw who was speaking. It was one of the creatures. "Who…how?"

"I was once one of you," it said. "Well, maybe not exactly like you. I lived in the Time Stream. I came here once. I met these creatures. They gave me this wonderful ability to swim." It gestured to its body. "Its amazing really. To help them like this."

"Help them?" Robin asked. "What do you mean?"

"Their kind is dying out," it said. "I was chosen to help them." It moved over to a bush. Pushing it back, it revealed a nest of eggs. "You and yours will help as well."

Robin twitched when one of the creatures walked towards her with the jewelry in its hand.

"You will help us flourish once more," it said.

Robin gritted her teeth. If they put that thing on her then she would lose her memories as well. They would be trapped down here. What would happen then? Would Pendulum save them? He was the only one who knew where they were. But they didn't have the shard yet.

The creature stepped closer.

She counted the creatures. She wondered if she could defeat them all herself. They showed no signs of any type of power. But they could have just been hiding that. Should she try and break free and fight? She had to. She had to try. Suddenly a loud splash caused them all to turn their heads back to the water hole. Penguin had returned with the shard in his hand. "Penguin!"

Penguin ripped the jewelry off his arm, turning back to normal. Topaz followed.

The monkey grabbed the shard.

"What happened?" Topaz asked when the scene around them changed to a smaller dome with only two buildings on it. She looked down at her hands. "We're back to normal."

"I feel dizzy," Penguin said, sitting down. "Sorry, Robin. We didn't mean to…"

"It's all right," Robin said, rubbing her sore arms. "It wasn't your fault. We all were trick. They seemed so benevolent."

"And to think all they wanted to do was rebuild their population," Topaz said. She shivered. "And to think they could actually turn people into one of them."

"Thanks to you we got out of there," Penguin said, looking at Robin.

"I think Neo saved us," Robin said. "My own words weren't reaching you. But her name did."

"Speaking of which," Topaz said, grinning. "She's here."

The door to the house busted open. Neo flew out to them, immediately grabbing Penguin in her arms. "You're here! I was so worried about you!" She engulfed them in her solar crystal without even asking. "What happened?! I know something happened to you!"

"Easy, Neo." Penguin rubbed her back. "We're fine. Things did get a little weird, but we're okay."

Neo pulled back and examined his face. She brushed her thumbs over his cheeks. "You're okay."

Penguin nodded.

When the Topaz and Robin moved close enough, she pulled them into their hug as everyone came outside to greet the new arrivals.

"This is great!" Luffy exclaimed. "Now all that's left is Franky and Zoro!"

…

"I can't believe I have to fight again," Franky said as their small group made their way through the bustling city.

"It's suppose to be some kind of technicality in your match earlier today," Ky said.

"But what's the point of having a rematch?" Zoro said. "We all got our share of food for today."

"I know," Cressida said. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Has there been another incident like this?" Franky asked.

"No," Ky said. "I've checked the database multiple times. There's been no record of a rematch in the history of the matches."

"Well, there is always the chance of a first," Zoro said. They finally reached the fighting center and entered into it. Surprisingly, they were greeted with silence rather than the typical crowd screaming and jeering at the fighters.

"There's another first," Cressida said.

"Let me guess," Franky said. "No crowds or other matches going on are also a first?"

"You got it," Cressida said.

Zoro pushed one of his swords up. "You feel that?"

"I sure do, bro," Franky said.

"Feel what?" Ky asked.

"We walked right into an ambush," Zoro said.

"Very good," Rumble's voice said from the shadows. His shoes tapped along the catwalk until a spot light turned on, highlighting his black suit and him.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Cressida demanded.

"I think you would know by now," Rumble said. "Or at least be smart enough to figure it out."

"What are you…" Cressida's voice trailed off. A shocked gasped passed over her lips. "No…"

"That's right, little girl," Rumble said. "I know what you've been up to."

"But…how?" Cressida asked. "We were so careful."

"Or so you believed," Rumble said. "You weren't as careful as you like to think. I sent a cyborg to your house under cover as someone wanting to escape from this city. You stupidly informed him of your plans, which I had been suspecting for a while. And after I got his information all I had to do was lure you here."

Zoro cursed, pulling out his swords. "And like idiots we fell right into it."

"Well, looks like we're going to have to fight our way out of here," Franky said when several of Rumble's men walked out of the shadows.

"Oh, you'll be fighting all right," Rumble said. He snapped his figures. Two gorilla men came out and grabbed Cressida.

"Cress!" Ky reached for her, but a cyborg cracked him on the back, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Ky!" Cressida shouted before one of the gorilla men clamped his hand over her mouth and pulled her into the shadows.

"Hey! Give her back!" Franky demanded.

"Sorry. No can do. She's mind now," Rumble said. "Don't worry. I'll take very good care of her." He turned and walked off. "Kill them."

The cyborgs lunged at them.

Zoro and Franky held back their punches as they started exchanging blows with the cyborgs. Franky said, "This is just great. What do we do now? It's not their fault they have to fight."

"I know," Zoro said. "But if we don't do something we're going to be in some serious trouble."

"Not to mention Cress," Ky said, standing up.

"You okay, bro?" Franky asked.

"I'll be fine," Ky said. "Cress is the one we need to worry about. We have to get out of here and go after her."

"Don't worry," Zoro said, slicing down a cyborg. "These guys aren't so bad. We can easily take them by releasing our full power."

"What are you talking about?" Ky looked around. "Rumble practically has the entire city coming after us."

Zoro and Franky smiled.

"Oh, don't worry," Franky said.

"We've fought a lot more than this," Zoro said. He placed his third sword in his mouth, ready to take them all down. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Franky nodded. "Radical Beam!"

"Kalasutra! Great Dragon Twister!"

"Huh?" Ky blinked in disbelief as all the cyborgs and animal henchmen of Rumble went flying through the air. "It's not…how did…you can't…"

"Let's go!" Franky grabbed their stunned friend and headed for the door.

"Snap out of it!" Zoro said once they had reached outside. "We have to get Cressida back! And you have to lead us to Rumble's place, unless he took her somewhere else."

"Uh, no," Ky said, coming down from his shock. "He'll take her to his place. There's nowhere else for him to go. It's the only place that well guarded. But how did you all do that? You didn't show that kind of skills in the fights."

"Yeah, well, we have our reasons for keeping our skills hidden," Zoro said. He glanced at the monkey now clinging to Franky's shoulder.

"Tell us where to go," Franky said.

"Take a right here," Ky said. "Then just go straight through the city. Once the buildings thinned out, you'll see his mansion. You can't miss it. It's upon a hill over looking the city."

"Why am I not surprised?" Franky asked.

"It's just another way that Rumble keeps an eye on things," Ky said. "You can put me down."

"Right." Franky sat him down. "Can you fight?"

"I can," Ky said, now running. "I might not be as good as you two but I can hold my own."

"And we're here to back you up," Zoro said.

"What about when we get there?" Franky asked. "It sounds like his place is really huge. How are we going to find Cressida?"

"I have downloaded a blueprint to the mansion," Ky said. "I did it just incase something like this happened. Once we get her back we need to get back home. It's a little earlier than we planned, but we have to activate it anyway and set the cyborgs free."

"You sure about that, bro?" Franky asked. "Is the thing finished?"

"No," Ky said. "But it's close. We'll have to rush through the last of it, but we don't have a choice. Rumble knows what we're plan-Oh crap!"

"What?" Franky asked.

"If Rumble knows what we're planning then some of his minions are heading back to our place to destroy it!" Ky said. "We can't let that happen!"

"I'll go back to the house," Franky said.

"You sure?" Zoro asked.

"I should be able to defend it just fine," Franky said. "You and Ky get Cressida and meet me back there. And try not to take too long. I don't know how long I can hold them off, depending on how many are actually there."

"Right." Zoro nodded. "We'll see you there."

Franky nodded back then turned to his right and disappeared down another sidewalk.

"Will he really be all right by himself?" Ky asked.

"He'll be fine," Zoro said. "Let's just focus on getting Cressida and getting back to your place."

"And we need to rally the cyborgs," Ky said. "We'll have to start to try and convince them that we can free them. And hope they believe us."

"Here comes some more!" Zoro said.

"Right! Remember to try and tell them our plan!" Ky said. He ran a bit away from Zoro and started fighting. He kicked, punched, and dodged their attempts of taking him out. "Listen to me! We're going to free you as cyborg slaves!"

"You can't!" one said.

"We'll always be slave!" another one said.

"No you won't!" Ky said. "Cress and I have been developing away to free us all! But we have to unite and take down Rumble together!"

"It's impossible!"

"It's not impossible if you stop being such cowards and fight for your freedom!" Zoro said, slicing off weapons from some cyborgs arms.

"We still need a little time but we can free you, my brothers and sisters!" Ky said. "We will no longer have to do jobs out of force! We will be able to choose our jobs!"

"Lies! We'll all be killed!"

"We can be killed right now for any reason!" Ky snapped back. "Rumble already holds our lives in the palm of his hands! Any minute now he can kill us just because he wants to! But he's not! He's not because he has Cress and is going to do who knows what to her! He's distracted! We can take him down! Just let us pass by! Let us get her back and then you all will be freed!"

The cyborgs slowed down their attacks.

"What are you morons doing?!" a gorilla man demanded. "Fight or die!"

"No," a cyborg said. "I'm tired of this." He turned to the gorilla. "I won't fight like this anymore."

"What?!" the gorilla asked.

"I will fight with Ky and Cressida!" The cyborg charged forward and engaged in battle with two gorillas. Other cyborgs exchanged looks before changing sides.

Zoro smiled. "At least we got some of them on our side."

"Let's just hope it's enough," Ky said before leading Zoro through the fights and closer towards Rumble's mansion.

…

Franky dashed down the sidewalks, knocking anyone and everyone out of his way that was trying to stop him from getting back to Ky and Cressida's house. He chuckled. "This reminds me of Dressrosa. I just hope we can get out of this with less scrapes than that fight."

He barreled through a gathering crowd of cyborgs intent on stopping him. "Get out of my way!"

Citizens dodged out of his way and the fight, clearing himself a better path to run faster. Soon their temporary house came into his view. No one appeared to be watching it from the outside, but he figured there would be some on the inside. So when he got there, he didn't stop. He went right in. And as he though, there was five gorilla guys smashing away at the equipment. Catching them off guard from his surprise entrance, he used that to knock them all out.

…

Cressida watched in horror as multiple people descended down on her friends before her vision blurred and she blacked out. The stiffness of her wheelchair was replaced by something soft when she finally started to wake up again. Opening her eyes she found herself staring up at a maroon canopy. Her heart took a painful beat when she remembered what happened. She tried to move only to find that her wrists had been chained and she was bound to the bed.

Her gut twisted into knots when she finally noticed the smell of the room. It held the same cheep smell of the cologne Rumble wore. She was in _his_ room. And that wasn't anything good. Her brain wanted to show her what he had planned for her. With desperation she tried to ignore it. But she knew. She knew what he wanted to do to her, other than kill her. The pounding in her head made her miss the opening and closing of the door.

"I see you're finally awake," Rumble said. He moved away from the door and walked over to the bed. Glaring down at her with eyes filled with lust and hatred. "You have been a royal pain, you know?"

"Says the one who's forcing people to be slaves only because they're different," Cressida hissed at him.

"They are not normal. They deserve to be treated as slaves." Rumble chuckled as he crawled onto the bed. He placed his hands on each side of her head, hovering over her body with malicious intent. He ran one hand down her side and over her bosoms. "I've tried to kill you so many times. Yet, I never managed to succeed in that. Have you ever wondered why?"

"You're just a lousy shot," Cressida snapped.

"I did fine with your parents." Rumble smirked, earned a hate filled glare from the girl underneath him. Sitting down on his legs, he used his other hand to roam over her body as well. "You're such a feisty little thing. I really like that in a woman. And you'll be so submissive thanks to the injuries you have gotten."

"I might not be able to walk, but I can still fight you," Cressida replied. "I'm not as submissive as you think. You won't get away with this."

"Oh? And who do you think is going to save you?" Rumble leaned down and kissed her neck.

Cressida felt her skin crawling from his touch. "You know exactly who."

Rumble laughed. "That machine? You think that _it_ can save you? I have _it_ under my control just like the rest of them."

Cressida smirked at him. "You think so? If you have him under your control then why haven't you stopped him already? You can easily do that with a push of a button."

Rumble sat up and frowned at her.

"You don't do it because you know you can't," Cressida said. "You know that I came up with a way to block that. And I've put it into Franky as well."

Rumble forced the frown away. He murmured to her while he trailed kisses along her neck, over her cheek until he was mere centimeters away from her lips. "That doesn't matter. I have an entire city under my command. He won't reach this place. He'll die before he does."

"Neve-" Cressida was cut off by his lips pressing against her. She gagged. Desperately, she tried to shove him off of her. She didn't want this. Ky was the one she wanted to kiss her. But she couldn't stop him. Her legs were useless. And her arms were bound to the bed. She was at Rumble's mercy and his roaming hands that was working her clothes off of her. Tears leaked through her tightly closed eyes. She tried to imagine she was somewhere else, anywhere else, besides here. Next thing she knew, the pressure of Rumble's body was off hers. She opened her eyes to see Ky flying over her as he tackled Rumble off the bed.

"You stay away from her!" Ky hissed. Once his feet hit the ground, he forced Rumble into the wall then preceded to punch the man in the face, blood flying everywhere.

Zoro ran over to Cressida, easily cutting the chains that held her down. "Get dressed."

"R-right." Cressida forced her eyes off the beating and pulled her clothes back on her body. Once dressed, her eyes went back to the fight.

Rumble, transforming into his gorilla body, forced Ky away from him then threw a punch in Ky's face.

Ky's head snapped back. He recovered in time to dodge another punch from Rumble. Ducking down he swung his leg towards Rumble's legs, knocking the man down.

Zoro blinked at the two fighting. "This could go on forever. We should just grab him and go."

"Leave them be," Cressida said, brushing her lips off in an attempt to get the feeling of Rumble kissing her out of her mind. "Rumble deserves this. He deserves to die."

"Zoro, take her and go!" Ky ordered, blocking a punch with his wrist.

"What?! No! I'm not leaving you!" Cressida shouted back. "We're in this _together_ if _you_ stay then I stay!"

"You should take her advice, _machine_." Rumble chuckled darkly while he pulled out a gun from underneath this shirt. "I'll win this. I have an entire city! An entire army at my command!" He started to pull the trigger. A sudden blast went off, knocking them all off balance. Sirens and alarms shrilled in response. "What?!"

"Sorry to inform you of this, but your rule is over," Zoro said. "We managed to convince some of _your slaves_ to join us. They're currently in the process of destroying this place completely. Besides that," He rushed forward and sliced Rumble's gun in half, "Ky isn't pulling any weapons on you. Fight like a man. Finish this fight that you started."

Rumble scoffed, tossing the remains of the gun to the floor. "He's no man! He's a machine! But fine! I don't need a gun to kill a _machine_!"

"Well, this _machine_ knows right from wrong," Ky said before punching Rumble in the face. He kept on punching him, blocking Rumble's attempts to hit back, and even catching a few hits from the man himself. Blood dripped down his busted lip and chin, but he still fought. "I know it's not right to force someone into being a cyborg just because you find it funny. I know it's not right to force those people into being slaves. I know it's not right to try and kill someone who hasn't done anything to you. And I know you are now defeated. We have won, Rumble. You're losing your slaves today."

Ky gave Rumble one more punch. It knocked the man out cold. Ky stumbled back, huffing and puffing before rushing over to Cressida. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine." Cressida clung to his neck. "You two are such idiots coming here like that."

"We weren't going to let him keep you," Ky said.

"But our plans and house." Cressida pulled back from him.

"Franky's already over there defending the place. We need to get going now," Zoro said when he heard thundering footsteps coming towards the room.

"Right." Ky nodded, picking Cressida up.

Zoro then cut a hole in the wall and took Cressida from Ky after putting up his swords. He waited for Ky to jump out of the hole and transform into his flying self before he jumped out with Cressida. Flying over the city, he couldn't help but look down. A rebellion had flared up. He had no idea if they cyborgs were actually going to win. But with Cressida and Ky freeing them from Rumble's control, they at least had a chance. Before long, they arrived at the house and dashed inside where they found Franky patching up the damaged the others had done to it.

"Hey! You all made it! Super!" Franky said with a smile.

"How bad are the damages?" Zoro asked while Ky pulled out and set Cressida in her spare chair. "Ky might have defeated Rumble for now, but his army is still in tact. Most are probably going to stay in the city to try and stop the rebellion, but they'll come after us as soon as they realize Ky and Cressida have escaped."

"I've managed to fix what I can," Franky reported. "With the three of us working together now it shouldn't take too much longer to fix what's left."

"Great," Cressida said, she took over the keyboard controls while Franky and Ky connected wires, placed panels in the right places and other stuff.

"They're coming!" Ky said when his censors started beeping.

"Zoro! You've got to buy us some time!" Franky shouted.

"Right! Just hurry!" Zoro shouted back over his shoulder. "I don't know for how long I'll be able to hold off an entire army!"

Zoro ran back outside and slashed down as many enemies as he could while the others worked as fast as they could to get the tower up and running. After several more intense moments of rushed work and fighting, the beacon began to hum.

…

Cressida smiled upon hearing her masterpiece humming like a kitten. "That's it! The shard is now all we need! Ky!"

"It would be my pleasure." Ky popped opened his chest and pulled out the shard. He slid it into place. The shard began to glow.

"One last thing and we're done." Cressida pulled a small square disk out of her pocket.

"What's that?" Franky asked. "I've never seen it before."

"A highly secret piece of the puzzle. It's the only thing that we have never mentioned to anyone just in case something like this happened," Cressida said as she laid the disk into it correct place. Franky blinded in confusion when he noticed that the shard was pulling some kind of power out of the disk. He didn't have time to ask what was going on as the house began to open and change its shape into a satellite disk. The house lit up as the wave from the beacon began to flow through the air. Cressida's eyes lit up. "It's working! The chips are malfunctioning all over the city! We did it! We're free from Rumble!"

"Attention, citizens of the Dome of Cyborgs, my fellow Cyborgs, you are no longer slaves to Rumble," Ky spoke when he lifted up a microphone. "Cressida and I have destroyed the chips controlling you! You are now free! Rumble has been defeated! Take down the rest of his army! Take them all, my brothers and sisters! Freedom is now ours! Take it! Take our rightful places in this dome!"

"And that's it?" Franky asked.

"Yes." Cressida nodded as she started outside.

Once outside, Franky noticed that Rumble's army had turned on each other. They were divided between those who served Rumble loyally and those who wanted freedom. It was only natural that some would stick with Rumble, whether out of loyalty or fear, either way the cyborg slaves were moving towards their freedom.

"I'm glad that's over," Zoro said, putting up his swords. "Now we can get the heck out of here."

"We can't thank you enough," Ky said as he put his arm around Cressida's shoulders. They all headed back inside.

"But there's something I don't understand," Franky said. He paused when he saw the console that the shard was in was sizzling and smoking. "Is it supposed to do that?"

"Yes," Cressida said as Ky removed the shard from the console. "We never told you this because we couldn't risk it, but this shard uses power from other things. This little disk actually held what we needed to put the control chips out of power, but I could never make one big enough to cover this entire area to make sure all of the control chips got destroyed. It took several tests with this shard to figure out how it actually worked and that's it's almost completely indestructible. But we did it. We're all finally free of Rumble. Now that his slaves have been taken away he can no longer control us. People will now revolt against him."

"Hold on a second," Franky said. "If that thing can pull power from another source, doesn't that mean it can pull power from _any_ source?"

"What are you talking about?" Zoro asked.

"For an example," Franky said then swallowed before continuing, "let's say there's this girl, who's magical, can this shard pull her magic from her and be used by someone else's will?"

"Uh…" Cressida tapped her chin in thought. "Well, I don't know anything about magic, but theoretically, yes. I suppose that could happen as long as the person who's using the shard has the right equipment or conduit for the magic to flow through. Why?"

Franky looked over at Zoro. The swordsman stared at his cyborg companion for a few seconds before he finally realized what Franky was getting at. Zoro said, "Neo _was_ the target after all."

"Kailen did warn us about other magic users in the world," Franky replied. He looked down at the monkey. The monkey slipped through the bodies and grabbed the shard. Both Zoro and Franky charged at the monkey. "Hey! Don't you da-"

They only got a couple steps before the current world they were in disappeared.

"-re!"

Franky and Zoro blinked. They were no longer on the Dome of Cyborg Slaves but instead a smaller one with a few gardens, trees, a strange looking tower, and an even stranger looking clock shaped house.

"Hey! Franky! Zoro! You made it!" Luffy waved to them from the open doors of the house. "Hey, everyone! Zoro and Franky have arrived!"

"Luffy?" Zoro asked. "What happened? Where are we?"

"Really?" Usopp asked as everyone came running out of the house to meet the last of their friends to arrive.

"Franky! Zoro!" Neo's eyes lit up at seeing her friends.

"Crap! No! Get Neo out of here!" Zoro said.

"Do it now!" Franky added.

"Huh?" Nami asked. "Why? What's t-"

"Law!" Neo's scream when her hand was ripped from Law as she flew backwards. Looking down at her body, she found that same blob that had attacked them on the beach was wrapped around her body again. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw it was pulling her towards shattered pieces of a broken mirror. To all of their surprise, the shards started growing and merging together.

"What the heck?!" Usopp shrieked.

"Those are the shards we picked up?!" Nami gasped. "How are they get so big?!"

"Crap! We're too late!" Zoro said.

"What's going on?!" Luffy asked.

"Never mind that! Just help Neo!" Penguin said, rushing forwards.

"Neo!" Law shouted, unsheathing his sword he lead the frontal assault.

Neo summoned her crystals in a desperate attempt to get free. But nothing she did would help her. The blob then pushed her against the mirror. Her skin shivered from the coolness of the shard. It released her, leaving her attached to the mirror. A shocked gasped left her lips when she entered into the mirror. Refocusing her mind, she attacked the mirror from the inside just as Law reached it and sliced it from the outside. Nothing happened. Their attacks didn't even scratch the thing. She pounded on the mirror, tears streaking down her cheeks. "Law! Get me out of here!"

"Room! Shambles!" Law twisted his hand, but nothing happened. "Shambles! Shambles!" Still nothing. "Crap!"

Luffy jumped into the air, using his Armament Haki, he punched the mirror repeatedly. He gasped when he wasn't even able to put a crack in it. "What the heck is that thing made of?! I didn't even crack it!"

"Crap! Crap! Crap! Cressida said this thing was next to indestructible!" Franky said.

"Who's Cressida?" Chopper asked.

"A girl we met. She preformed tests on the piece of shard she had. It uses power, and possibly magic, from other sources and magnifies it. Pendulum didn't keep Neo here by accident. He was after _her_ all along," Franky quickly summoned up. "It was for her protection so she would be able to do…whatever this is."

"But why?" Shachi asked. "What does he want with her?"

"Law! Please! Get me out of here!" Neo cried as she continued pounded on it with her fists.

"I will! Just hold on!" Law placed his free hand on the mirror. She placed her hands over his on her side. Before anything else could be said or done the mirror lifted into the air and flew over to the other building in the dome. All their eyes followed but their bodies remained in place. "Neo!"

"Law!" Neo panic when the two pinchers began to move towards the mirror. They pinched the mirror, holding it in place.

The building started to glow yellow.

"What's happening?!" Sanji asked as they all bolted for the tower at the same time.

The glow started at the bottom of the building, moving upwards until it had Neo's wrists and ankles bound, making her body into an x. She screamed out in pain when the glow engulfed her entire body. Her crystals formed, but not from her.

"Neo!" Law's knees buckled underneath he pain that spread to him through their bond. "What's…happening?!"

"I…don't know!" Neo replied. "It's forcing me to use my crystals!"

"What'd she say, Captain?!" Bepo asked.

"That thing…it's forcing her to use her crystals," Law replied.

"Curse that man!" Elian hissed.

"What is he up to?" Velocity asked. "What's the point of all this?"

Celeste shivered and dove into Sanji's shirt. "Too scary! Pretty Princess hurting!"

Pendulum's laughter rang throughout the dome. The pirates stopped in their tracks when the man appeared between them and Neo. Velocity and Elian dove for cover to hide from the man.

"Stop this!" Nami shouted. "She's pregnant!"

"Is there a point to that?" Pendulum asked nonchalantly. "I already knew that before I brought you all here. It didn't matter one bit to me."

Law gripped his sword and charged in blindly, rage coursing through his veins, with the others following close behind. "Give her back to me at once!"

Pendulum waved his hand, freezing all of the pirates in place. He chuckled. "Sorry, pirates, but you won't be able to stop one who can control time at will."

Pendulum turned and flew up to the top of the tower. Standing on top of it, he held out his hands and shouted to the top of the dome. "I've done it! Do you see me, _Empress Futur_ a? After all of these centuries I finally win! And there's _nothing_ you can do to stop me now!"

…

Elian and Velocity exchanged looks. With a two second, silent conversation, they nodded. Flying out from behind a tree, their bodies grew to a human's size. They ran over to the pirates, spreading their glow over the pirates, freeing them from being frozen in time. The pirates' bodies all relaxed as they started to over come the strange sensation of being frozen in time.

"What just happened?" Nami asked.

"I feel so strange," Robin reported.

"That was a very strange sensation," Brook said.

"Captain, what happened?" Bepo asked while rubbing his head.

"Anyone else have the desire to fiddle with clocks?" Usopp asked.

"We don't have time to explain what happened," Elian said.

"Ack!" Usopp shouted and fell back onto his butt. "What the heck?! How are you so tall now?!"

"We don't have time to explain that either!" Velocity shouted. "But we _are_ on your side!"

"Well, isn't this a surprise. Time Guardians Velocity and Elian," Pendulum said, looking down on them. "I'm a bit surprised to see you here. I was wondering why you always hid when I came to visit the little princess here. It makes sense now. Futura must have sent you here to keep an eye on this tower I built. But it's too late. No matter what precautions your ruler has put in place, they won't work. I already have the girl in place. My plan is already in the works and it can't be stopped."

"You will be stopped! I'm going to kill you!" Law demanded. He started to head towards Pendulum again, but Elian jumped in front of him, earning a death filled glare from the captain. "Get out of my way or die with him!"

"No! Just listen to me! You can't go after him alone! He just froze you and your people in time!" Elian said. "You need our help!"

"I told you to get out of m-"

"Captain!" Penguin suddenly shouted.

When Law turned back to his subordinate his eyes widened. Penguin, Usopp, and Nami's feet were slowly disappearing.

"What's happening to them?!" Luffy demanded.

"Crap! That's what he's doing?!" Velocity cursed.

"What _is_ he doing?" Nami shouted. "I don't want to disappear!"

"Crap! He's altering the time line!" Velocity replied. "If we don't stop him quickly we all could disappear forever!"

"What?!" Chopper and Usopp screamed. "I don't want to disappear forever! I want to live!"

"And he needs Neo to do that?" Robin asked.

"Unfortunately, that's not all he's doing." Velocity nodded. She held up her hand. A small glowing ball appeared in it. It showed them what she was talking about. The world, the pirates' world was changing. The ground was shifting, ocean waves were crashing all over the place, and people were disappearing. Everything was changing, even on the time domes. Neo's crystals were, somehow, physically changing the world. They were causing storms and reshaping the world itself. "Pendulum has always been known as sadistic and full of himself, but who knew _this_ was his plan."

"What's going on?!" Zoro demanded. "Spill it already! We don't have time for crap like this!"

"Our sister is in trouble!" Shachi said.

"Pendulum is using Neo to reshape the world and the time line into his image since she has all the crystals that control the elements. That's why some of your friends are disappearing. He's changing the timeline," Elian said. He looked right into Law's eyes. "I know you want to save her, but you can't do that when he can freeze you in place and time."

"I have to save her! I won't abandon her to him!" Law shouted.

"You don't have to tell me that! I know how much you care about her! I can see it in her eyes! I saw it every time she cried for you! We will help you! We're the only ones who can!" Elian said as his sister joined his side. "We might not be as strong as Pendulum but we _can_ keep you unfrozen! But you have to trust us!"

"He's right," Velocity said. "We know we haven't known you all for very long, but we are the only ones who can help you."

Law gritted his teeth. He knew they weren't his enemies. They were really trying to help him. He forced himself to calm down. They were right. These two were the only ones who could help them. "Fine."

"So what do we do?" Shachi asked. "How do we stop this?"

"We only have two options here. One is to kill Pendulum and the other is to take down the tower," Elian said. "Either one will do."

"Our best chance would be to spilt into groups and go after them at the same time," Velocity added.

"Sorry, but I won't give you the chance to stop me," Pendulum said with a snap of his fingers. Several of the monkeys that had been following them around appeared around the pirates, surrounding them. Then without warning, some of them grew to the size of gorillas while four of them grew to be almost the size of the house leaving around a hundred regular size ones.

"What the heck?!" Usopp shouted. His eyes wondered up the tallest monkeys' bodies.

"Well, that's unexpected," Brook mumbled, pulling out his sword.

"Divide up into three teams!" Velocity ordered. "One team needs to fight these monkeys, the second team tries to destroy the tower while the third team deals with Pendulum! Hurry up! We don't have much time!"

"Since there's only two of us, there can only be two of you who can attack Pendulum. We won't be able to keep up with more than that," Elian added.

"Luffy and Tra are the two strongest we have," Franky said.

"Yes! You ready?" Luffy punched his hand into his fist before looking at Law. Law nodded. "Then lets get her back! The rest of you, help the Heart Pirates take down that tower and the monkeys!"

"You got it, Captain!" The Straw Hats nodded.

"And we better get it down fast or we're going to be short some crewmates," Franky said, noticing more of Penguin, Usopp and Nami's bodies fading away. "At this rate we're all gonna disappear."

"Don't worry about us!" Penguin said. "Just stop Pendulum!"

"Yeah. Let's get this over with," Zoro said before placing his sword in his mouth. "I'm ready to get back to the Sunny."

"Zoro, Sanji and Franky," Robin said while she formed several hands and smacked down some of the smaller monkeys, though the attack didn't do any damage to them. "You three should be strong enough to take the tower. The rest of us will handle the monkeys."

"Sounds good to me," Sanji said, standing ready with his hands in his pockets.

"Cutie going to fight?" Celeste poked her head out of his pocket.

"Yeah." Sanji tapped her head with his finger. "You just stay in there. Every thing will be fine."

"Okay." Celeste ducked back down.

"Help them," Law ordered his crew. They nodded in obedience. While Bepo and Shachi started attacking the monkeys upon command, Penguin paused to look at his captain. "I promised her I wouldn't let you do anything stupid. This fight is _mine_. I _will_ get her back. Help the others."

"Aye aye, Captain." Penguin nodded before turning to help the others.

"All right then," Nami twirled her staff. "I really don't feel like disappearing from the world. So let's put an end to this. _Now._ "

The 'Destroy The Monkeys' team pulled out their respective weapons and began to attack their adversaries while the 'Tower Team' headed for the tower, knocking over as many monkeys as they could in the process. Law and Luffy followed Elian and Velocity.

"Very well then," Pendulum spoke casually. He flew off the mirror and landed in front of the team pursuing him. "But this is futile. I've already seen the future. I win."

"You only see what you want to see!" Elian spat back. "You know that the future has many possibilities and is never set in stone until it has happened!"

"No." Pendulum shook his head. "I have seen the future and it is very clear that I will win this battle."

"You took my love from me. You put her and our child in danger. The only thing in _your_ future is _death_ ," Law hissed with venom as he tightened his hold on the hilt of his sword. "Straw Hat…"

"Don't worry. I get it," Luffy cracked his knuckles. "I'll only help take him down. What happens after that…I'll leave up to you."


	20. Nothing But Time

Nothing But Time

Nami twirled her baton then brought down a lightening bolt onto a small group of monkeys. The lightening crackled, thunder boomed, but the monkeys stood unaffected by the attack. "What the heck?! Why didn't it work?! What are these things made of anyway?!"

"It seems like they're made of something as strong as sea prism stone! They might be impossible to break!" Usopp shouted as he fired at multiple gorilla size enemies. His green seeds exploded, wrapping vines around the large monkeys, but they easily managed to snap the vines and free themselves. From the corner of his eyes, he could see a smaller monkey running after him. The thing clamped it jaws down on his arm before he could react. He screamed. Failing his arm wildly until he managed to shake the thing off of him. Blood leaked through his skin, coloring his skin red. He fired several shots at it. It jumped away from each one. "Stupid machine! You are totally give me a phobia over monkeys!"

"They're not invincible! They have a weakness! We just have to find it soon! We won't be able to keep this up for much longer!" Chopper said in his reindeer form. He picked up a couple with his horns and rammed them into a tree. They dropped to the ground as he stepped back from them. He managed to puncher their bodies, but they still stood back up. He eyed the holes in them, not registering the odd glow coming from it. "I'm going to have to use my monster form! Maybe I'll be strong enough in that form to cause some damage!"

"Are you sure about that?" Nami asked.

"Got ya!" Brook said from behind her. He poked his sword at several monkeys, making a monkey shish kabob on it. He screamed when they started wiggling around on his sword, reaching for him. "That's so gross! Why don't you die already?!"

"We're not making any type of progress here!" Chopper said. He looked at the Heart Pirates. Using their martial arts skills they were pushing a couple larger monkeys back into Robin's large hands. His crewmate's fingers curled around the monkeys. One of them bit down on her flesh managing to free them. "The longer we take the worse it gets for Neo! I'm transforming!"

"If you go into your monster form and we don't stop them then we're down a fighter!" Usopp pointed out, firing several more shots. "Are you sure about taking the risk?!

"And if we don't do something soon you are going to disappear forever!" Chopper pointed out.

Usopp looked down at his body. Half of it was missing. He screeched and wailed around. "No! Someone do something! Luffy! I don't want to disappear! Save me!"

"That's it! I'm going for it!" Chopper shouted. He pulled out his rumble balls and transformed. "Rumble Ball!" His body expanded with a roar.

…

Bepo jumped put to kick his target. He landed a dozen kicks before the monkey reached out and grabbed him. "Hey! Let go! What are you doing?!"

"Bepo!" Shachi and Penguin cried. They charged forward. Leaping into the air, they kicked and punched the machine holding their friend before it swatted them away.

"Just great." Penguin swiped the blood dripping down his chin and glared at the monkeys.

…

Chopper roared. Charging towards the Heart Pirates' navigator, he whacked the monkey that was holding Bepo. The machine's limbs snapped and crackled from the hit. Bepo, now freed, dropped to the ground. He said, "Thanks!"

"You're welcome," Chopper said as he smashed his target again. This time it cracked completely open and fell to the ground, immobile.

"All right! It looks like you've got enough strength to stop them in that form!" Shachi noted. "Way to go!"

"Maybe or we could just be wearing them down. Either way I only have a few minutes in this form," Chopper reported. "I won't be able to stop all of them."

"Just take out the four largest ones," Penguin said as he punched a smaller monkey. "We'll figure out how to take the rest down. The bigger ones are the ones causing us the most problems."

"Taking them all on at the same time will probably be too much for you," Shachi said. "We'll distract the other two while you take out the other one."

"Okay." Chopper nodded. He waited until the three Heart Pirates were in their own battles with two of the monkeys before charging forward to the last one. He charged at his target. Punching and kicking until he took it down.

…

Sanji broke ahead of his team. Leaping up he swung a kick at the tower holding their favorite blue haired girl hostage. Pain shot through his leg, he felt his bone crack under the pressure. He landed on his feet. "Crap! What the heck is this place made of?! That kick should have at least cracked it!"

Zoro followed the cook's lead. Jumping forward, he sliced at the tower, ending in the same. No cuts appeared on it. Landing back on the ground, he let his eyes wonder up to the top of it. Without a word he jumped up to the top. Floating in the air, he caught a quick glance at Neo screaming in pain before trying to slice the pinchers. He got the same results as they did at the base of the tower. It didn't work. He dropped back down to the ground with a disgruntled grunt. "Stupid."

Topaz summoned fifty fire crystals. Setting them ablaze, she tried to melt the thing. It didn't work. "You've got to be kidding me. What the heck is this thing made of?"

"Hm." Franky rubbed his chin as he stared at the base of the tower, considering it. He couldn't help but noticed that it looked like the tower went under the ground instead of stopped at the ground. "I wonder what's under this thing."

Topaz looked at the cyborg.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Zoro asked.

"The inner workings of the dome," Celeste reported as she popped out of Sanji's shirt. "Vines no attack anymore! Vines no attack!"

"What do you mean?" Franky asked. "What vines?"

"That's right! I forgot all about them!" Sanji shouted. "Neo told me that this place was protected by mechanical vines! They attacked her when she flew too close to this tower!"

"So?" Zoro asked.

"Isn't it obvious? If those things attack before then they should be attacking now. But they're not. They're nowhere to be seen. So there has to be a reason to why they're not attack now." Sanji looked around before he looked down at Celeste. "Celeste, did Pendulum build this tower directly into the inner workings of this dome?"

"Yes, yes." Celeste nodded. "Tower and dome are now one."

"Thought so." Sanji nodded back.

"You going to fill us in on what you're thinking, bro?" Franky asked. "You got a way to disable this thing?"

"I hope so. Neo's magic can't be the only thing powering this thing. There has to be something else, something that was connected to the plants. Pendulum must be redirecting that power to the top of the tower. If we can disrupt that power then we should be able to free Neo." Sanji plucked the little sprite out of his shirt and sat her in the palm of his hand. "Listen closely to me, Celeste. I need you to go into the inner workings of this dome. Get all of your sprite friends to help you. Try to disrupt the flow of power to this tower."

"Right! Cutie can count on me!" Celeste nodded then flew away from them.

"I hope she'll be all right," Topaz said.

"Are you sure about this? Seems like a long shot considering Pendulum is using Neo's magic," Franky said. "What if it's too late?"

"This is the only shot we have." Sanji looked at his friend. "But there _has_ to be power of some kind going to this tower. If not, then why aren't the defenses for it attacking us now?"

"I guess you have a point." Franky scratched his cheek.

"We can't rely on that," Zoro said. "We still need to try and destroy this thing."

"Let's get back to it then," Sanji nodded as they turned back to the tower and continued their assault on it.

Topaz summoned her fire crystals and turned their blaze onto the tower in an attempt to melt it.

…

Law and Luffy flew forwards. With Elian and Velocity at their sides, keeping their glow around their bodies so Pendulum couldn't stop them in time. Still, it wasn't doing much as Pendulum's skills as a fight was right up there with theirs.

"Gum Gum Gatling!" Luffy threw his rapid punches at him.

Pendulum smirked. He disappeared from the hits and reappeared in front of Law.

"Shambles!" Law warped himself closer to Pendulum. When he reappeared, he swiped out his sword.

Pendulum disappeared then reappeared several yards away. "Is that all you got? Don't you get it? You can't defeat me. I've been watching you. Remember? I know about all of your attacks."

Elian growl and brushed some sweat off his brow. "He's right. We're not going to defeat anyone who knows what's coming."

"No! Don't say that! Of course we'll defeat him!" Luffy said. "We'll just come up with a new attack!"

"How can you come up with a new attack? We don't have time for that," Velocity said.

"I don't care! We will think of something!" Luffy proclaimed.

Law tossed his eager and optimistic friend a glance before looking back at Pendulum. Try as he might, he couldn't think of a single plan to stop him. Pendulum matched their speed with ease and did have an advantage over him since he had been watching them for a while. He cursed under his breath. How _were_ you supposed to defeat someone who could control time and knew your moves? They were in an unfortunate stalemate with this enemy. And Neo's, and his own life plus their child, hung in the balance from it. They needed something to get Pendulum off his guard so they could go in for the kill. But what? Suddenly, Law felt his and Neo's heart stop beating.

"Something's wrong! Neo's magic is fading!" Velocity cried out.

Law felt his heart sink into his chest. The pain in their bodies was still there, but he couldn't feel Neo's mind anymore. It was like her thoughts went completely blank. It was like they were on the verge of…dying.

Pendulum whipped his eyes up to the tower. He frowned when he saw that Neo's magic was fading away. He said, "What trick is she trying to pull?"

Luffy, seeing this as an opportunity, shot forward. Encasing his fist in his Armament Haki, he landed a punch to Pendulum's cheek, feeling and hearing the bones crack under the pressure. The time man went flying several yards, taking out several trees before crashing into the dome wall. Luffy charged towards him. With his feet planted on either side of the man's body, he threw his Gum Gum Gatling onto Pendulum.

…

Chopper rushed towards the last of the large monkeys. Bringing his fist down on top of it, he shattered it. His entire body paused upon feeling like something wasn't right. He said, "Something's wrong."

"Huh?" Brook looked at the giant beast after kicking a monkey away from him. "What is it, Chopper? What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure, but I have a bad feeling about Neo," Chopper replied quietly just before his transformation time was up. His body turned back to normal. His eyes floated towards the direction of the tower. He didn't care about falling. He didn't even noticed Shachi grabbing him. "Neo."

"What about her?" Shachi asked. As they landed, Shachi made sure to land on top of a monkey. The monkey cracked and sunk into the ground. He looked around to see that they had destroyed several of the monkeys. He also noticed something else. "Penguin, your body's back to normal."

"Huh?" Penguin looked down at himself. He then got a terrible feeling in his stomach. The stomach seemed to pass from him to Shachi. The two pirates then looked at Bepo. Bepo was staring up at the mirror that held their friend, their little sister. The bear wore a worried expression on his furry face. Penguin stumbled forward. "No…no…she can't be…"

"Hey! What's going on?! Why did you all stop fighting?! We still have killer monkeys here to deal with if you've forgotten!" Usopp asked. He then looked down at his own body. "Hey, our bodies are back to normal! That's great!"

"They defeated Pendulum?" Nami asked, happily.

"No," Penguin said as his fists trembled. "They didn't. It's something else."

…

Law's hat fell over his eyes. He could feel it. He could feel their lives slipping away from them.

Luffy stopped his assault on Pendulum and tangled his limbs around the older man's, making him immobile. "Tra! Do it now!"

Law clenched his sword's handle. Using what strength he had left, he turned and stumbled towards Pendulum.

"Hey, are you okay?" Velocity asked. "Did you get hurt?"

Law didn't answer. He just continued walking towards Pendulum with anger radiating off of him.

"Hey." Velocity tried to follow him but was stopped by Elian's arm. "What?"

"Let him go," Elian said.

…

Pendulum struggled to get out of Luffy's iron grip. But his body was too badly beaten and entangled in Luffy's rubber limbs. He didn't have the energy to free himself. "No! How can this be happening?! I was so close! What did that girl do?! How could she have done anything?! I saw the future! I won!"

"I've already told you. And it's the first thing we learn when becoming guardians of time," Elian said. He clenched his fists at his sides. "You only saw what you wanted to. The future is not set in stone for anyone but God. Even we Time Guardians don't know what future will come true. You didn't think this entire plan of yours through. It was doomed to fail from the start."

"What are you talking about?!" Pendulum hissed, his eyes wild with insanity. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

"You didn't think how this would affect Neo's body," Elian continued. "We are not immortal. We all have our limits. And she has reached hers."

"What?" Pendulum gasped.

"You are far too blinded by wanting to reshape the world into your image that you didn't take that into consideration," Velocity added, placing a hand on her twin's shoulder. "You were too blind to see the other possibilities of this sick plan of yours. You just pushed ahead and took innocent people along on your twisted ride."

"No!" Pendulum cried out. His voice filled with realization that his plan was doomed to fail. He looked up to see Law standing over him like death itself.

Law's eyes glared harshly down at the man underneath him. He lifted his sword and pierced it right into Pendulum's heart without a word, knowing that Luffy would jump back at the last second, avoiding the piercing blade. Law shoved his sword through Pendulum's body until the guard hit the man's chest. Blood poured out of the wound and down to the ground. Iron filled his noise. Still, he leaned into Pendulum's ear. Hissing demonically, he said, "If we die from this, I _will_ find _some way_ of finding you in death and pulling you back into the living world just so I can mercilessly and inhumanely torture you for the rest of our lives."

Law twisted his sword before pulling it out of Pendulum's bleeding chest. Pendulum's body fell to the ground with a thump, his eyes dulling and rolling to the back of his head.

…

Franky, Zoro, Topaz, and Sanji stopped attacking the tower when they heard the pinchers moving away from the mirror above them. They looked up to see the glow completely fading away just before Neo passed through the mirror and plummeted down to the ground.

Topaz remained quiet. She could feel her princess's life force slipping away. Her gut clenched. This could have been happening. Not after they had come this far.

"Sky Walk!" Sanji wasted no time in jumping up to catch her. With just a few kicks, he had her body in his arms. He could feel it. She wasn't moving or breathing. His eyes widened, his heart took a sharp jolt. With his eyes on her, he didn't even notice the mirror was falling on top of them.

"What are you doing, you stupid cook!" Zoro growled. "Get out of the way!"

Sanji looked up at the mirror. To worried about his friend in his arms, his brain didn't even register the danger coming right at him. Nor did he register Franky's fist flying past them, deflecting the mirror before it could hit them. He landed on the ground.

"What's the matter with you?!" Zoro demanded. "Were you trying to get you two killed?!"

Sanji gritted his teeth. He didn't have the strength or the will to fight back.

"What is it?" Zoro asked. "You got nothing to say for once in your…" He paused at the sigh of a tear sliding down the cook's cheek. His eyes then went to Neo. Her color had faded.

"Oh man," Franky whispered. "No."

…

Law turned away from Pendulum's body. Without a word, he warped over to Neo. Dropping his sword before dropping to his knees. He took her from Sanji when he passed her over to him. He cupped her face before hugging her to his chest. "Neo…I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to come to this."

"Hey! How's she doing?" Luffy asked, running over to him. He knelt down and smiled. "That was some battle. Wasn't it, Neo? Hey, Neo?"

She didn't respond or move. Neither did Law.

"What's going on?" Luffy asked.

"Neo!" Penguin shouted as the rest of their crews ran over to them.

"Is she all right?" Usopp said. "Please tell me she'll be all right. Chopper, you're a doctor. Help her."

"Even if there was something I could do for them, I can't move," Chopper said, tears pouring down his cheeks.

"What do you mean by that?" Nami asked.

"It was too much for her body to handle," Velocity replied softly. "Pendulum never took that into account. Having _that_ much strain on your body, even for a magical creature…it was inevitable that this would be the outcome."

"Wait! She still has her solar crystal, right?" Usopp asked. "That'll heal her! Right?"

"No," Penguin whispered. He dropped to this hands and knees, tears pouring from his eyes. He clenched the lifeless grass in his hands. "Her solar crystal would have appeared already. She's…she's really going to…"

"You have to remember that Neo and Tra are bonded by their bond," Robin said.

"That means…" Nami took a step back. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "No!"

"Neo and Tra are dying," Robin said.

"What?! No!" Luffy shouted! "They can't! We won! We can go back now!"

No one else said anything. Nothing could be said.

Shachi knelt down to beside Penguin and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Bepo stood near by and closed his eyes, trying to keep his own tears at bay.

"No! We can't just let that happen!" Usopp shouted. "Law! Chopper! You two are doctors! You have to save her!"

"I'm sorry, Usopp," Chopper said. "There's nothing I can do. And neither can Law."

"But we can't just…" Usopp turned to Velocity and Elian. "You're magical! Can't _you_ do something for her?"

Velocity and Elian hung their heads in defeat.

Brook placed a hand on the sniper's shoulder. When Usopp looked at him, Brook shook his head. He said, "Its time to say goodbye to them, my friend."

Usopp clenched his eyes tight. "No…it can't be. Their…their baby hasn't even…I don't accept this!"

"Neo," Law whispered. He pressed his forehead to hers. "Please forgive me. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you or our child. But we'll be together forever. No matter what happens now." His body swayed. Placing one free hand on the ground to stabilize himself, he kept his other around Neo and their child. They were dying. And they were going to do it together no matter what.

Everyone's chests tightened. Their eyes closed. Some cried openly. Some held back their tears, though they struggled to do so.

"Why is Tra glowing?" Luffy's voice suddenly asked out of the sadness like it was just a normal event happening. There was a collective 'Huh?' as everyone opened their eyes to see what the young captain was looking at. They all gasped upon seeing Law's body glowing like Neo's solar crystal.

"What's happening to him?" Brook questioned.

"It's not possible," Elian mumbled.

"What's not?" Nami asked.

"It's her solar crystal," Velocity replied. Her eyes were zeroed in on something, but it wasn't Law's body. Everyone looked at her then at Neo. As they stared at their fallen friend, they began to see something slowly appearing. It was Neo's solar crystal. When it finally appeared clearly then noticed the glow from Law was going into the crystal then passing it to Neo. "We can feel it. Her helpmate is somehow feeding her crystal its healing magic."

"Do you mean that some of Neo's solar crystal magic has somehow been stored in Tra's body?" Robin asked.

"Apparently so," Elian nodded. "But I don't understand how is that possible. If she's dying then her crystals would be dying as well. There's no way this could be happening. If he had magic then, yes, this would make sense. Wait…you all said that they both were dying and tied together through a bond. Does that mean she engulfed him in her magic at some point?"

"Yes." Robin nodded. "That's how Tra was able to learn about Neo's past."

"She never told us that part," Velocity said.

"I'm not surprised," Robin said. "Her bond with Tra is very special to her."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Zoro asked.

"Just a hunch," Elian said. He rubbed his chin in thought. "But it might be possible that Neo stored some of her solar magic within his body when she merged with him like that. And, over time, the magic must have merged with his life force."

"It's possible that Neo's subconscious sensed something like this would happen and took precautions to protect her," Velocity added.

"Come to think of it," Shachi said. "The captain did once mention that, in the vision Neo showed him of her past, it seemed like the crystals took on a will of their own to protect her when those villagers tried to harm her."

Everyone went quiet after that. They held their breath, all were to anxious to see if this was going to heal their two friends enough for them to continue on living or not.

Suddenly, out of the thick silence, Neo took a noticeable breath. Law pulled away from her and looked at her when she did. He could visibly see her breathing. He cupped her face again and brushed his thumb over her skin, not even noticing the life that was coming back into his own body. "Neo?"

Everyone continued to hold their breath. It was still several minutes later before Neo's eyelids cracked opened. Everyone's sad tears turned to happy ones.

"Neo! Yeah! She's awake!" Luffy cheered.

"Yes!" Usopp added. "They're going to be all right!"

"Neo! I can't believe it!" Chopper cried. "I'm so happy!"

Neo's eyes guided over to Law's. She tried to lift her hand up to cup his face but found she wasn't able to. "Law…I-I can't move. Why can't I move?"

"Do you not remember what happened?" Law asked softly.

Neo's eyes filled with questions to his words. Slowly the memories of what happened begin to filter back into her mind. The questions in her eyes were suddenly replaced with fear. Law flinched at the two words that left her lips. "Our baby…"

Everyone stiffened. They all knew that if Neo's body took so much damaged, to the point that she couldn't move, there was no way the baby could have survived. Law swallowed the lump in his throat. He brushed her bangs with his fingertips before placing his hand on her cheek and answering her. "Don't think about that right now. You just rest."

A tear dripped out of her eye and Law brushed it away. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Elian moving towards them. The man kneeled down and reached for Neo's stomach. With lightning fast reflex, Law grabbed his wrist. "Don't touch her!"

"Please, I intend no harm." Elian looked directly into Law's eyes. "I only wish to check on the baby. I can do that. If you will let me."

"Law," Neo called, pulling her lover's eyes towards her. "It's okay. He won't hurt me. He put a spell on our baby to protect our child."

Law released Elian's wrist. He kept his eyes on Neo's as Elian placed his hand on her stomach. Elian's eyes and hand began to glow. There were several more minutes of intense waiting. Eventually, Elian stopped glowing and let out a huge sigh of relief. "The baby's fine. My protection spell worked."

Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief too.

"Protection spell?" Zoro asked. "And while we're at it, just who the heck are you two?"

"Confession time now," Velocity said. "We're actually Time Guardians who serve under Empress Futura. She posted us here over five hundred years ago before the Time Spheres stopped working. We disguised ourselves as Time Sprites in hope to figure out what Pendulum was up to."

"Five hundred years ago?" Sanji blinked at them. "How old are you two?"

"A thousand and five hundred years old," Elian and Velocity replied at the same time.

"What?!" Everyone, but Robin, Neo, and Law shouted.

"Time passes differently here than on your world. And we age a lot slower than humans so that's why we look so young," Elian replied. "I'm sure some of you have already heard some of this, but Pendulum has been fighting with Empress Futura for centuries for control over the Time Stream. When she realized Pendulum was up to something, she posted a couple of her elite guards on each Time Dome."

Velocity added. "During one of Empress Futura and Pendulum's battles, Empress Futura shattered the mirror that he wanted you all to gather for him. She also damaged the Time Spheres, after our posting, so he wouldn't be able to travel the Time Domes. Apparently all her efforts weren't enough considering Pendulum still was able to travel between the domes and learned the locations of the mirror shards somehow."

"But why did he choose us?" Shachi asked.

"I assume mostly because of the Princess. He did say he was watching you all for a long time. And, since the Princess has all the abilities over the four elements, it was her magic he needed to reshape your world just like he tried to do," Elian replied. "But I also assume that he didn't want to take the chance of getting caught by one of us. He's sadistic too. He enjoys making others suffer. He got a kick out of separating you all and taking the Princess back to the past to meet with Trafalgar as a child. I'm sorry. I really wish I could give you more clearer answers, but we don't really know everything. We have no idea what drove Pendulum to do the things he did."

"Thank you for all that you've done for her and our child," Law said.

"You're very welcome. I'm glad everything worked out as well as it did." Elian nodded.

"Neo!" The Heart Pirates cried as they moved closer to her and their captain. Elian stood up and rejoined his sister's side.

"We were so worried about you," Shachi said with a smile and tears. "We thought we were going to lose all three of you."

"I thought the same," Neo said, Law nodded in silent agreement.

"How are you feeling?" Bepo asked.

"Tired, but okay." Neo smiled tiredly at them. Her eyes then landed on Penguin. "Penguin?"

He shook his head then placed his hand on hers. He said, "I'm okay. I was just really scared that you were…"

"I know." Neo smiled at him through her tears. She wished she could hug her friends and Law. She turned her eyes back to her husband. "Sorry, I worried you."

Law pressed a kiss to her forehead before saying, "Let's get you inside. You need to rest now."

"Resting sounds great," Luffy said, earning nods of agreement. "Sanji! I'm hungry!"

"Right." Sanji chuckled. "I'll get right on that. And I'll make something good that will help Neo regain her strength."

"I'd like to help," Elian said.

"Sure. Come on." Sanji waved at the guardian and headed back for the house.

Penguin lift up Neo's hand, that he was still holding, and placed it over her stomach. Law then gently lifted her into his arms and stood up. They all headed inside.

"By the way," Brook asked as they made their way inside. "How was it possible that that mirror became so huge?"

"Well, it is a magic mirror," Velocity replied. "The user can change its shape, even if it's in pieces."

"I guess that makes sense," Chopper said.

Robin sat down and placed the immobile reindeer on the couch beside her, letting him use her lap as a pillow.

Law didn't cast anyone another glance as he immediately took Neo up to her current room while the others stayed downstairs to give them space. Her eyes never left his face as he gently laid her down on the bed. He laid down beside her and propped up on his elbow. He wouldn't look at her in the eyes. Her solar crystal continued to radiate its glow over her body. "Law?"

"Hm?" He still didn't look at her.

"Law, please, talk to me." She frowned when he still refused to raise his eyes to hers. "You're only hurting yourself by keeping it in and keeping me blocked from your thoughts."

Tears were glistening in his eyes when he finally looked at her. He placed a trembling hand on her stomach. He didn't even try to stop them when his tears leaked over his eyelids and down his cheeks. "I'm sorry for everything that you just went through. I didn't mean for anything of this to happen. I was too weak to protect you two."

"Law, stop that. Nothing that happened is your fault. You're only human. You're strong enough to do what you need to do when the time comes." Neo's eyes filled with her own tears. She struggled to lift her hand and placed it over his. "I'm still here. We _all_ are. We're safe now. It's over."

Law nodded and smiled lightly as he brushed his thumb over her stomach.

"Kiss me," she whispered.

He leaned down and placed his lips lightly against hers. He could feel how weak she was just by the lightest touch. Not wanting to waste what little energy she just got back from her solar crystal, he broke the kiss after only a few seconds. He pressed his forehead to hers. "I'll give you a more proper kiss when you're stronger. Right now, you need to sleep."

"Only if you sleep too," Neo said. "I don't want you staying up all night watching me, even though you'll do it anyway after I fall asleep."

Law chuckled lightly. She was right. He wouldn't be able to sleep knowing what she had just went through and how weak she was. He'll watch her and their baby like a hawk. Still, he did as she wanted. Keeping his hand on her stomach, he laid down beside her and pressed his forehead to her temple. Both closed their eyes, breathing in each other's scents.

…

Once Law knew she was sleeping peacefully, he propped himself back up on his arm to keep an eye on her. A soft knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. "Come in."

"Hey, how's it going?" Sanji said upon entering with a tray in his hand. "How's Neo doing?"

Law's eyebrow rose. He had no idea that they had been up here long enough for Sanji to cook them something to eat. "She's fine. Resting comfortably."

"I brought you two some food up," Sanji said. "Would you like for me to bring it back later?"

"No," Neo said, waking up. "I'm hungry."

"Sorry," Sanji said. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's fine," Neo said. "It wasn't you. It was my stomach. Baby's hungry."

"All right," Sanji said, walking over to the bed. He waited patiently while Law adjusted Neo into a sitting position with all of the pillows they had on the bed. Once they were set, he handed over the tray and removed the lid that was on top. "Oh, yeah, we talked about our sleeping arrangements a little while ago. Now that Pendulum is out of the picture we're going to be using the other rooms so you two can have some peace."

"Thanks, Sanji," Neo said. "But it's not necessary to bar everyone from coming in here."

"Yes, it is," Law said in his captain tone. "You're going to rest. I don't want the Straw Hats coming in here and disrupting that until you're feeling better."

"Law, I'm fine," Neo said.

"No arguing, Neo," Law said. "That's an order."

Neo sighed. "Okay, okay."

Sanji chuckled. "I figured you'd say something like that. But I have no idea how long we're going to keep Luffy out of here. He's already been complaining that he's bored with this place."

"I can understand that," Neo said. "He's use to having his freedom. Here we're all trapped."

"If he comes up here I'll immediately warp him outside," Law said.

"I'll pass that along," Sanji said while leaving the room. "But not that it'll do any good though."

"You know you don't have to keep them out of here," Neo said.

"Yes, I do." Law picked up the fork. He cut off a bite of the meat flavored pie Sanji had cooked and brought it up to Neo's mouth. "You two need your rest. Once you're able to move again I might let them come up here."

"You need rest as well." Neo took the bite and ate it. "What about Penguin? Are you going to keep him from me as well?"  
"No," Law said. "Our crew can come up here since they'll be quiet."

"Good," Neo said. "I didn't want to have to ban you from my love if you kept them from me."

"They're your brothers," Law said, giving her another bit.

"They all are family," Neo reminded him.

"They're still not coming up here," Law said.

"Fine," Neo said. She went quiet after that and let Law continue feeding her until she became too tired to eat anymore. He shifted her back down on the bed. While she slept he finished what was left on the tray before setting it aside. He then laid down and watched her sleep before the events of the day finally took their toll on him and he fell asleep.

A couple hours later another knock on the door woke them both up. Neo locked her eyes with Law, frightened a bit from her sluggishness and not being in their room on the sub. "Law?"

He kissed her forehead. "It's all right, love. We're still in the Time Dome."

"Oh, right." Neo settled back into her pillow with a sigh.

"Come in," Law said after another knock.

Penguin poked his head in. "Dinnertime. You feel like eating?"  
"Come in, Penguin," Neo said.

Penguin smiled and entered the room with two trays in hand. "I hope you don't mind if I join you two."

"It's fine," Law said, helping Neo sit up again.

"How are you doing, Neo?" Penguin eyed her still hovering solar crystal.

"Better." Neo lifted her arms. "I can move a little more not, but not enough to feed myself."

Penguin nodded. "Unless you're milking this thing and want the captain to feed you."

"Why, what do you mean?" Neo asked innocently. "I don't have to milk anything for Law to feed me."

Penguin laughed. "That's true. The captain will feed you at any point in time."

"So how is everyone doing?" Neo asked.

"They're fine," Penguin said. "Just resting up. Once Chopper could move again he checked everyone out. Only minor injures were obtained."

"That's good to hear," Neo said. "I was worried about them."

"I think Straw Hat had gotten more injuries from being bored rather than from the fight," Penguin said.

Neo hummed.

"Velocity volunteered to read books for them, but he turned her down," Penguin said. "Robin took her up on the offer but asked for Velocity to read her history books."

"I'm not surprised," Neo said. "Robin really loves history. And this will be the only time she has to learn about this place's history. She should take the opportunity."

"Velocity wasn't very excited about it," Penguin said. "She wanted to read romances. She's down there right now trying to teach Robin how to read their language so she doesn't have to read the history books."

Neo laughed. Her bells rang out into the room, filling both Law and Penguin's chest with warmth.

"It seems like it's been years since I've heard you laugh," Penguin said.

"It feels like it's been years since I've laughed," Neo said. "All that needs to happen now is to get back to the rest of the crew. I wonder how much time has passed there."

"If too much time has past I'm sure the Elementals have the entire island looking for you," Penguin said.

"They're all probably freaked out when I disappeared," Neo said. "I hope they and the others will be fine."

"They will be," Law said. "They know how to handle themselves."

…

Velocity and Elian stood on each side of Pendulum's lifeless body. Combining their magic together, they formed a transparent coffin about him then moved him to the farthest side of the dome. Velocity said, "There. That's taken care of."

"Yeah." Elian nodded. "If only we had the power to send our friends back to where they belong."

"They'll get home," Velocity said. "You know the empress is keeping an eye on things. All she has to do is fix the Time Spheres. Then she'll come here and send them home."

"I'm ready to get back to our home too," Elian said. "It really is boring here."

"I completely agree," Velocity said.

"We might as well head back inside," Elian said. He turned and led the way back to the house. "Maybe we can teach the pirates some of our games to help pass the time.

"Maybe a few," Velocity said. "I could always read to them like I did with the princess, as long as it's not more history books. I wonder if she'll want me to read to her while she's recovering."

"Maybe," Elian said. "But with how her helpmate is protecting her right now, it might be a while before we can get near her."

"He's amazing!" Velocity exclaimed her cheeks turned pink. "I wish I could have a guy like that!"

"You are insane," Elian said.

…One week later…

"So bored," Luffy whined while draped over the back of the couch. "Can't we go back to the Sunny now?"  
"Luffy, we've already told you a hundred times in just the past few days," Usopp said. "We can't go back until someone comes here to send us back. And they can't do that until the Time Spheres are working again.

"But it's so boring here," Luffy said. "There's absolutely nothing to do!"

"Well, we could always go clean up the mess outside," Franky said. He walked over to the open doors and stared out at the tower. "We should probably take that thing down anyway. It's probably making Neo nervous with it and the mirror still around."

"He's got a point," Sanji said, exhaling smoke from his mouth. "That thing could still be used. We should take it down."

"It's not that much of a threat considering Pendulum is dead," Nami said.

"We shouldn't take the chance," Robin said. "Neo, Tra, and their baby almost died once already because of that thing."

"She's right," Brook said. "I think we all will feel better once that thing is down."

…Another week later…

Now, exactly two weeks after they almost lost their three friends, Neo was sitting outside. Law had his arms firmly around her. The rest of their group, with the help of the Time Spirits, that finally came out of hiding, passed their days dismantling the tower that Pendulum had put up. Even though they knew for sure that the man was dead, it made them all nervous that it was still around. Velocity and Elian had put Pendulum in a magic coffin and moved him, and his monkeys, as far away from Neo as they could.

The pirates and the sprites cheered when Franky unbolted the last piece of the tower. Neo sighed as she leaned her head against Law. "It's finally down."

"Good," Law nodded. His hand once again finding it's way to the rather large baby bump that now graced his love's stomach. Neo's hand automatically went on top of his. Both thinking about how their baby was going to come sooner than expected.

The two lovers were about to lean in for another kiss, but they were stopped when the Time Sphere began to glow and hover in place. They stood up just before a bright flash of light appeared followed by a tall woman, dressed in white and purple robes. Her hair was black and just as long as her robes. Her ears were pointy and several inches long. She swiped her hand over her robes like she was brushing off dirt. "Stupid Time Spheres! Pain in the clock! They shouldn't have taken that long to fix!" The woman huffed then looked up at Law and Neo. "Goodness! You really are an Elemental Princess!"

Law stepped in front of Neo and unsheathed his nodachi. The woman gasped but didn't show any real concern over Law's weapon. Placing a hand to her mouth, she said, "Dear me, I did it again."

"Empress!" Velocity and Elian shouted as they flew over. The crews and the sprites followed. Velocity and Elian immediately dropped to one knee in a respectful bow.

"My dear guardians!" Empress Futura greeted them with a bright, warm smile. "I am glad to see you are doing well!"

"Yes, Milady, we are well," Elian replied. "We are glad to see you are well too."

"I'm great now that Pendulum's threat has been taken care of. You have done well." Empress Futura nodded at them then turned back to Law and Neo. "My apologizes to both of you. I did not mean to alarm you in any kind of way. I was just surprised to see royalty from the Elemental bloodline here even though I watched what happened. It's just been so long since I've met one of you."

"You've met my people?" Neo asked, placing a hand on Law's arm to calm him down. He lowered his sword but didn't put it away.

"It's been centuries, but yes, Young Princess." Empress Futura nodded with a smile. She scanned her eyes over the gathering crowd, pausing on Topaz. "And a fire Elemental. Amazing." Her eyes rose to the farthest side of the Time Dome. She raised her hand. With a little wiggle of her finger, one of the monkeys flew over to her. With another little wiggle the monkey's body split in half revealing a substance just like the orb that brought them all to the Time Stream. "Well, that explains that then."

"What is it, Empress?" Velocity asked.

"This is how Pendulum was able to travel to the Time Domes despite the Time Spheres being broken." Empress Futura showed them the split monkey.

"That looks familiar," Brook said.

"What is it?" Luffy asked.

"Time Spheres," Empress Futura replied. "Or what's left of them that is. When a Time Sphere is about to quit working, it gets replaced with a fresh one. They're like batteries. I noticed some of them had been taken from their storage room, but never imagined Pendulum would use them to make his own beacons in a different form. He infused them with his magic to disguise the Time Sphere's pulse. It's very faint right now without Pendulum's magic, but it is there. Such a pain that man has been. I must apologize for what he has put you all through, especially you, Young Princess. And I apologize for not being able to come to your aid. I damaged the Time Sphere more than I had intended and stranded myself as well as everyone else on the Time Domes. I have a lot of apologize to do to my subjects." The Empress huffed and sent the monkey back with the others. "All well. What's done is done. No point stewing about it. I can send you all home now, if you are ready."

"Finally, we can get back to the Sunny. Super!" Franky smiled. "I just hope no one has bothered her."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'll send you back to the exact time that you all were brought here. It will be like no time has passed since you were taken," Empress Futura said.

"No!" Celeste cried, clinging to Sanji's cheek with rivers of tears flowing from her eyes. "No go! No go! My cutie! Mine!"

"Sorry, Celeste, but we don't belong in this place," Sanji said as he pressed his finger to the little sprite's back. He plucked her off and sat her in his hand. "I'm sure we'll met again."

"No go!" Celeste bawled more while she grabbed onto Sanji's finger. "No go! My cutie! No leave!"

"I've never seen a Time Sprite so bonded with a human before," Empress Futura said while rubbing her chin. "They're usually so dedicated to their jobs of maintaining Time Domes. I'm sorry, Celeste, but they can't stay here."

"No!" Celeste cried.

"I'm sorry. But you are needed here," Empress Futura said. "But I will allow you to go visit them from time to time."

"Really?" Celeste looked up at the empress.

"I give you my word." The empress nodded.

"Yeah! I see cutie again!" Celeste hugged Sanji's cheek.

"Well, if that's done, can we leave now?" Zoro asked.

"It will be nice to finally return," Brook said. "I miss our beloved ship."

"Are you all ready?" Empress Futura asked.

"We're going to miss you!" Velocity said as she hugged Neo.

"Thank you, for everything you have done." Neo smiled at the twins. "You kept me distracted while my family was away from me. It was more helpful than you'll ever know."

"If you don't mind," Elian said. "We'd like to come see you some time after your baby is born. We've grown kinda fond of you all."

Neo looked to Law. He nodded. "That would be fine."

"How will you find us?" Neo asked.

"Don't worry about that. It'll be easy. We'll give you plenty of time to rest and bond with your child," Velocity said as she tapped her chin. "How about we come find you when your baby is about six months old?"

"Great! We'll be glad to see you again!" Luffy grinned.

"If we're still in an alliance then I'll kill him." Law sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Neo giggled.

"How will we find them?" Usopp asked. "The world is rather big. And who knows where we'll be by that time?"

"Don't worry about it," Velocity winked. "We'll be able to find you easily enough."

"Sounds like a plan then," Franky nodded.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I'm ready when you all are," Empress Futura said.

"Will it harm our baby?" Neo asked. She placed one hand on her stomach and the other in Law's comforting grip.

"No, Young Princess, it will not." Empress Futura gave her a warm, motherly smile. "This will not harm your baby at all. However, despite sending you back to the exact time you were taken, you will remain this far along. Manipulating a body has been a forbidden practice for many, many centuries. And I'm no exception to that law despite being the empress. You will not believe how many people were using that ability to try and escape their time of death. Ugh! It was such a mess for so many years."

"All right," Neo said. "We're ready to go."

With that the Time Empress waved her hand over the group of pirates. A bright flash of light temporarily blinded them before they realized they were back on Purlieu, right where they had disappeared from. The beach, the sand, the smells, and noises from the island filled their senses. Everyone took in their surroundings. Usopp was the first to speak. "Wow. It kinda feels like it was nothing but a whacked out dream now."

"Well, at least we're back where we started," Topaz said. "That way the Elementals shouldn't have started a search party. I should still check things out to see if anything happened while we were gone."

"I'd like the crew to gather back at the ships," Neo said. "And you all too."

"What for?" Penguin asked.

"I've spent far too long away from you all," Neo said. "I want to sleep with everyone tonight."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Shachi said.

"What about your honeymoon?" Nami asked. "You still have time left."

"I know," Neo said. "We'll go back to the hotel tomorrow. I just really want to be with you all tonight."

"I'm all for it as long as Sanji cooks us a great meal," Luffy said, he placed his hands behind his head.

"I'll get right on that," Sanji said, heading for the ship. "But first I want to get out of these ridiculous clothes."

"I'm with you on that one," Neo said.

Law nodded. Picking Neo back up, they all headed back to their ships to change before gathering up the rest of the Heart Pirates. Neo enjoyed the familiar sights of the sub as she and Law wondered through the halls and into their room. They dressed each other, doing their best not to get distracted with other, more intimate activities since the crew would be here soon. And soon they all were sprawled out around the decks of the Sunny and Polar Tang. Their stomachs all filled up with the normal, yummy foods they were use to.

"Now that was more like it," Luffy said.

"I was starting to think I'd never have our food again," Usopp said.

"I'm still having a hard time believe that all happened," Tero said.

"But you saw Neo's stomach," Jean Bart said.

"I know," Tero said. "But still…"

The crew agreed, even the ones who went through the experiences of the Time Domes.

"I just hope it never happens again," Neo said. The pirates agreed. Their voices mingled together into the night along with the lazily sloshing of the waves until they fell asleep.

"Feeling better now?" Law asked.

"Much," Neo said. Her eyes skimmed over the sleeping crewmembers. She was snuggled up against Law's side while they leaned against the sub wall. Staring up at the star filled sky, a thought hit her. "Hm, I left my dress back on the Time Dome. The others left their clothes as well."

"We can get you another one. And they have plenty of clothes," Law said just before a gift bag popped into the room and landed on his legs. The two exchanged looks before sitting up. He grabbed the bag and pulled out there missing clothes. "It's your dress and the other's clothes."

"Velocity and Elian must have realized we left them there. They cleaned them as well," Neo said as Law handed her dress to her.

"There's something else in here," Law mumbled as he took the remaining items out. One was card and the other was a rounded, slightly heavy, colorful object similar looking to the Time Dome. He handed her the rounded object before opening the card. She leaned over and read it with him.

 _Princess Neo and Trafalgar Law,_

 _While we cannot reveal the possibilities of your future, we can tell you that you two will make great parents. Just keep doing what you do and keep on loving each other._

 _P.S. We return your clothes along with a present for your baby._

 _See you soon!_

 _Velocity and Elian and Celeste_

"Hm." Neo hummed before turning her attention back to the object in her hand. She noticed a small button on one side and pressed it. The top of the dome started to glow. Stars and a moon began to dance over its glossy dome as a sweet musical lullaby played. Law placed the bag on the floor before taking Neo once again in his arms and leaning back against the wall. "It was sweet of them to give the baby a gift."

"It was." Law nodded.

"Despite what all happened there, I'm going to miss them," Neo said.

"Just remember, you'll see them again."

…

 **Author's Notes: Well, not the best story ever but better than the original. Thanks for reading and commenting. Death Memories will be updated in two days. So look for it those who are still going to read it.**


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